Baer dismissed suggestions that the U.S. Justice Department was singling out Japanese companies and individuals for prosecution.
The Justice Department and antitrust enforcers around the world have been investigating price fixing in auto parts for several years. More than 38 companies have pleaded guilty and 61 executives have been charged. Among those companies and individuals, the vast majority have been Japanese.
But when all individuals charged with any antitrust crimes over the past decade are considered, only 10 percent have been Japanese nationals.
The preponderance of Japanese companies and individuals in the auto-parts cases is about to change as the Justice Department's attention shifts.
"I think you'll see as we bring charges over the next year or two in matters currently under investigation, that it will involve U.S. companies, U.S. citizens, foreign companies, foreign nationals, and it will not be focused on one particular country," Baer said, saying there are more than 100 active cartel investigations, including nonautomotive cases.
He added that if "you watch where we go in the future, it is not fair to suggest that we are targeting any one country."