The term “antitrust law” is used to refer to the collection of laws in the United States designed to protect consumers from illegal business practices such as price-fixing, market allocation, exclusive dealing, and other anti-competitive practices. As antitrust laws are designed to promote competition, they ultimately ensure that prices are kept low and a competitive marketplace is in place where businesses and consumers can interact.<\/p>\n
The first antitrust laws in the United States were established by Congress in 1890. Known as the Sherman Antitrust Act, they were intended to prevent the formation of monopolies and other anti-competitive practices, as well as protect consumer prices and investment returns. Since then, additional antitrust laws, such as the Clayton Antitrust Act (1914), the Robinson-Patman Act (1936), and the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (1976), have been enacted to strengthen these protections.<\/p>\n
In recent years, antitrust enforcement has been used to preserve competition in a changing, global economy. For example, enforcers have looked to stop deals such as AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile, merger agreements that could result in higher prices for consumers if approved. Antitrust laws also protect small businesses from exploitation by large companies. The U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission share responsibility for enforcing the antitrust laws.<\/p>\n
Antitrust laws promote a competitive market system that benefits consumers and businesses alike. When anti-competitive practices are in place, consumer prices are forced upward and competition is limited. By protecting competition, antitrust law ensures that small businesses have the same opportunities as larger corporations, and that prices are kept fair and reasonable for consumers. Ultimately, antitrust laws are essential for protecting a free-market economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The term “antitrust law” is used to refer to the collection of laws in the United States designed to protect consumers from illegal business practices such as price-fixing, market allocation, exclusive dealing, and other anti-competitive practices. As antitrust laws are designed to promote competition, they ultimately ensure that prices are kept low and a competitive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t\n