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Price-Fixing

Price-fixing is any agreement between competitors (“horizontal”) or between manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers (“vertical”) to raise, fix, or otherwise maintain prices. Many, though not all, price-fixing agreements are illegal under antitrust or competition law. Illegal actions may be prosecuted by government criminal or civil enforcement officials or by private parties who have suffered economic damages as a result of the conduct.

Horizontal Price-Fixing

Examples of horizontal price-fixing agreements include agreements to adhere to a price schedule or range; to set minimum or maximum prices; to advertise prices cooperatively or to restrict price advertising; to standardize terms of sale such as credits, markups, trade-ins, rebates, or discounts; or to standardize the package of goods and services included in a given price. All such agreements are per se illegal ...

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