Japan FTC Names 10 Firms for Rejecting Subcontractor Price Hikes

Jiji Press

15:22 JST, March 16, 2024

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Fair Trade Commission on Friday published the names of 10 companies that did not hold talks with subcontractors on price hikes by the subcontractors to reflect higher labor, material and other costs, leaving the subcontractors’ prices unchanged.

The 10 companies include Daihatsu Motor Co., electronics maker Kyocera Corp. and Seino Transportation Co., a key unit of logistics company Seino Holdings Co.

The FTC is urging the companies to hold negotiations with subcontractors so that the subcontractors can secure funds to raise wages for their workers.

The watchdog inspected companies that were reported in a survey of about 110,000 subcontractors to have kept transaction prices unchanged.

The inspection confirmed that the 10 companies kept prices unchanged in many transactions with subcontractors between June 2022 and May 2023.

The FTC points out that not allowing price increases to reflect higher costs may constitute an abuse of dominant position, which is prohibited by the Antimonopoly Law.