Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980

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The Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980 was a piece of legislation passed by the British Parliament to counter American assertions of extra-territorial jurisdiction.[1]

The Act gives the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry the authority to "give to any person in the United Kingdom who carries on business there such directions for prohibiting compliance" with laws of a foreign state which control or regulate international trade in a way which damages British trading interests.[2]

The Act also prohibited British corporations from giving documentation to a potentially hostile foreign interest and empowered British courts to seize the assets of any overseas power which impounded assets of British corporations.[3]

The Act restricts the enforceability of judgments for multiple damages. Section 5 provides that British courts will not enforce a judgment for "an amount arrived at by doubling, trebling or otherwise multiplying a sum assessed as compensation".[4]