The Liberal Democratic Party plans to raise antimonopoly surcharge rates to 10 percent from 6 percent for large companies and to 4 percent from 3 percent for small firms, LDP sources said Tuesday.
After the LDP agrees on the hike with its junior coalition partner, New Komeito, the government will introduce a bill to this end during the extraordinary Diet session expected to start next week, the sources said.
The rates are multiplied by a company's sales involving any Antimonopoly Law violations to compute a specific surcharge imposed on a violator.
The LDP has been considering raising the surcharge rates to help deter Antimonopoly Law violations, as the Japanese rates have been criticized for being far lower than those in Europe or the United States.
The Fair Trade Commission, the enforcer of the Antimonopoly Law, has sought to double the antimonopoly surcharges, while the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and other business bodies have been opposed to hikes.
Taking this opposition into account, the LDP has narrowed the hike for small companies from the levels seen in earlier proposals, the sources said.
The LDP also plans to reduce surcharges for a company that has voluntarily discontinued or admitted to unfair trade practices under the Antimonopoly Law, they said.