ICC v. Transcon Lines, 513 U.S. 138, 6 (1995)

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Cite as: 513 U. S. 138 (1995)

Opinion of the Court

The District Court granted summary judgment for respondents, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in relevant part, ICC v. Transcon Lines, 990 F. 2d 1503 (1993) (as amended on denial of rehearing and rehearing en banc). The Court of Appeals understood that the ICC as a general matter is authorized to enforce its credit regulations by seeking an injunction, see 49 U. S. C. §§ 11702(a)(4), (a)(6). It also recognized, or at least implied, that the credit regulations are valid on their face, but said that "[r]egulations, however valid in other contexts, cannot furnish the reason for letting the carrier abandon the filed rate." Transcon, supra, at 1514. Relying on our decision in Maislin Industries, U. S., Inc. v. Primary Steel, Inc., 497 U. S. 116 (1990), that the filed rate doctrine bars the ICC from interpreting the unreasonable practice rule to prevent collection of a filed rate where a carrier had agreed to a lower one, the court concluded that "[t]he ICC's interpretation of [the liquidated damages] regulations . . . has no greater force than the policy rejected in Maislin." 990 F. 2d, at 1514. It held that "the filed rate doctrine trumps the manner in which the ICC seeks to regulate carrier credit in this case." Ibid.

After the Court of Appeals issued its opinion, we decided Reiter v. Cooper, 507 U. S. 258 (1993). The Court addressed whether a shipper's unreasonable rate claim could be raised in a carrier's suit to collect the difference between the amount charged and the higher amount due under the tariff, or whether the shipper's claim had to be raised in a separate proceeding before the ICC. We held the filed rate doctrine does not bar shippers from raising claims and defenses accorded by the Act, even if this results in defeating collection of a filed rate, and allowed the shipper to allege, subject to the ordinary rules governing counterclaims, an unreasonable-rate counterclaim to the carrier's undercharge action. Id., at 262-267. In light of Reiter, we vacated the Court of Appeals' judgment in the instant matter and remanded for further consideration.

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