Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1084319
68 2019 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY THE CLAYTON ACT THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT Most governments take action to stop and prevent unfair business practices that are likely to reduce competition and lead to higher prices, reduce quality or levels of service, or lessen innovation. Anticompetitive practices include activities like price fixing, group boycotts, and exclusionary dealing contracts or trade association rules. They are generally grouped into two types: • Agreements between competitors, also referred to as horizontal conduct • Monopolization, also referred to as single-firm conduct The laws in the United States, wherein about 90 percent of the PSAI Members conduct business, are important examples. Members who conduct business outside the United States should check with the governments of those nations to understand the requirements and limitations in those markets. The core US federal antitrust laws include: THE SHERMAN ACT The Sherman Act outlaws "every contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade," and any "monopolization, attempted monopolization, or conspiracy or combination to monopolize." Long ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Sherman Act does not prohibit every restraint of trade, only those that are unreasonable. Under the Sherman Act, activities that are almost always illegal include: • Agreements of a type that always or almost always tend to raise price or to reduce output • Agreements among competitors to fix prices or output, rig bids, or share or divide markets by allocating customers, suppliers, territories, or lines of commerce • Monopolizing, or attempting to monopolize, trade or commerce by using "unreasonable methods" The Clayton Act prohibits mergers and interlocking directorates (that is, the same person making business decisions for competing companies), discriminatory prices, services, and allowances in dealings between merchants. The Federal Trade Commission Act bans "unfair methods of competition" and "unfair or deceptive acts or practices." ANTITRUST LAWS AND RESTRAINT OF TRADE Better worksites. Better weekends. Better world. EXCLUSIVE MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT REDACTED Join us now at www.psai.org for access to this valuable information.