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§ 8. Trusts in restraint of import trade illegal; penalty.

Every combination, conspiracy, trust, agreement, or contract is declared to be contrary to public policy, illegal, and void when the same is made by or between two or more persons or corporations, either of whom, as agent or principal, is engaged in im*porting any article from any foreign country into the United States, and when such combination, conspiracy, trust, agreement, or contract is intended to operate in restraint of lawful trade, or free competition in lawful trade or commerce, or to increase the market price in any part of the United States of any article or articles imported or intended to be imported into the United States, or of any manufacture into which such imported article enters or is intended to enter. Every person who shall be engaged in the importation of goods or any commodity from any foreign country in violation of this section, or who shall combine or conspire with another to violate the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof in any court of the United States such person shall be fined in a sum not less than $100 and not exceeding $5,000, and shall be further punished by imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, for a term not less than three months nor exceeding twelve months. (Aug. 27, 1894, ch. 349, § 73, 28 Stat. 570; Feb. 12, 1913, ch. 40, 37 Stat. 667.)

CODIFICATION

Section was part of the Wilson Tariff Act of Aug. 27, 1894.

AMENDMENTS

1913-Act Feb. 12, 1913, inserted "as agent or principal". CROSS REFERENCES

Combinations in restraint of trade or commerce, see section 1 of this title.

Immunity of witnesses, see section 32 of this title. Misdemeanor, offense punishable by imprisonment not exceeding one year as, see section 1 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

Monopolies in restraint of trade or commerce, see section 2 of this title.

Panama Canal closed to violators of antitrust laws, see section 31 of this title.

§ 9. Jurisdiction of courts; duty of district attorneys; procedure.

The several district courts of the United States are invested with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of section 8 of this title; and it shall be the duty of the several district attorneys of the United States, in their respective districts, under the direction of the Attorney General, to institute proceedings in equity to prevent and restrain such violations. Such proceedings may be by way of petitions setting forth the case and praying that such violations shall be enjoined or otherwise prohibited. When the parties complained of shall have been duly notified of such petition the court shall proceed, as soon as may be, to the hearing and determination of the case; and pending such petition and before final decree, the court may at any time make such temporary restraining order or prohibition as shall be deemed just in the premises. (Aug. 27, 1894, ch. 349, § 74, 28 Stat. 570; Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 291, 36 Stat. 1167.)

AMENDMENTS

1911-Act Mar. 3, 1911, vested jurisdiction in "district" courts, instead of "circuit" courts.

CROSS REFERENCES

Issuance of injunctions in labor disputes, see sections 52 and 107 of Title 29, Labor. Restraining violations of Clayton Act, see sections 25 and 26 of this title. Restraining violations of Sherman Act, see section 4 of this title.

FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE Commencement of action by filing a complaint with the court, see rule 3, following section 2072 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as governing the procedure in all suits of a civil nature whether cognizable as cases at law or in equity, see rule 1. Injunctions, see rule 65.

One form of action, see rule 2.
Pleadings allowed, see rule 7.

§ 10. Bringing in additional parties.

Whenever it shall appear to the court before which any proceeding under section 9 of this title may be pending, that the ends of justice require that other parties should be brought before the court, the court may cause them to be summoned, whether they reside in the district in which the court is held or not; and subpœnas to that end may be served in any district by the marshal thereof. (Aug. 27, 1894, ch. 349, § 75, 28 Stat. 570.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Additional parties, see sections 5 and 25 of this title.

FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

Modification of section by rule 4, see note by Advisory Committee under said rule 4, following section 2072 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Process, see rule 4.

§ 11. Forfeiture of property in transit.

Any property owned under any contract or by any combination, or pursuant to any conspiracy, and being the subject thereof, mentioned in section 8 of this title, imported into and being within the United States or being in the course of transportation from one State to another, or to or from a Territory or the District of Columbia, shall be forfeited to the United States, and may be seized and con

demned by like proceedings as those provided by law for the forfeiture, seizure, and condemnation of property imported into the United States contrary to law. (Aug. 27, 1894, ch. 349, § 76, 28 Stat. 570; Feb. 12, 1913, ch. 40, 37 Stat. 667.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Fines, penalties, and forfeitures, see section 2461 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. Forfeiture of property in transit, see section 6 of this

title.

§12. Words defined.

"Antitrust laws," as used in sections 12, 13, 14—21, and 22-27 of this title, includes sections 1-27 of this title.

"Commerce," as used in sections 12, 13, 14—21, and 22-27 of this title, means trade or commerce among the several States and with foreign nations, or between the District of Columbia or any Territory of the United States and any State, Territory, or foreign nation, or between any insular possessions or other places under the jurisdiction of the United States, or between any such possession or place and any State or Territory of the United States or the District of Columbia or any foreign nation, or within the District of Columbia or any Territory or any insular possession or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States: Provided, That nothing in the aforesaid sections contained shall apply to the Philippine Islands.

The word "person" or "persons," wherever used in sections 12, 13, 14-21, and 22-27 of this title, shall be deemed to include corporations and associations existing under or authorized by the laws of either the United States, the laws of any of the Territories, the laws of any State, or the laws of any foreign country. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 1, 38 Stat. 730.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Civil Aeronautics Act, legal restraints under, see section 494 of Title 49, Transportation.

Insurance business, applicability of sections 1-7 of this title to, see sections 1011-1015 of this title.

§ 13. Discrimination in price, services, or facilities(a) Price; selection of customers.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, either directly or indirectly, to discriminate in price between different purchasers of commodities of like grade and quality, where either or any of the purchases involved in such discrimination are in commerce, where such commodities are sold for use, consumption, or resale within the United States or any Territory thereof or the District of Columbia or any insular possession or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States, and where the effect of such discrimination may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or prevent competition with any person who either grants or knowingly receives the benefit of such discrimination, or with customers of either of them: Provided, That nothing contained in sections 12, 13, 14— 21, and 22-27 of this title shall prevent differentials which make only due allowance for differences in

the cost of manufacture, sale, or delivery resulting from the differing methods or quantities in which such commodities are to such purchasers sold or delivered: Provided, however, That the Federal Trade Commission may, after due investigation and hearing to all interested parties, fix and establish quantity limits, and revise the same as it finds necessary, as to particular commodities or classes of commodities, where it finds that available purchasers in greater quantities are so few as to render differentials on account thereof unjustly discriminatory or promotive of monopoly in any line of commerce; and the foregoing shall then not be construed to permit differentials based on differences in quantities greater than those so fixed and established: And provided further, That nothing contained in said sections shall prevent persons engaged in selling goods, wares, or merchandise in commerce from selecting their own customers in bona fide transactions and not in restraint of trade: And provided further, That nothing contained in said sections shall prevent price changes from time to time where in response to changing conditions affecting the market for or the marketability of the goods concerned, such as but not limited to actual or imminent deterioration of perishable goods, obsolescence of seasonal goods, distress sales under court process, or sales in good faith in discontinuance of business in the goods concerned.

(b) Burden of rebutting prima facie case of discrimination.

Upon proof being made, at any hearing on a complaint under this section, that there has been discrimination in price or services or facilities furnished, the burden of rebutting the prima-facie case thus made by showing justification shall be upon the person charged with a violation of this section, and unless justification shall be affirmatively shown, the Commission is authorized to issue an order terminating the discrimination: Provided, however, That nothing contained in sections 12, 13, 14-21, and 22-27 of this title shall prevent a seller rebutting the prima-facie case thus made by showing that his lower price or the furnishing of services or facilities to any purchaser or purchasers was made in good faith to meet an equally low price of a competitor, or the services or facilities furnished by a competitor.

(c) Payment or acceptance of commission, brokerage or other compensation.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, to pay or grant, or to receive or accept, anything of value as a commission, brokerage, or other compensation, or any allowance or discount in lieu thereof, except for services rendered in connection with the sale or purchase of goods, wares, or merchandise, either to the other party to such transaction or to an agent, representative, or other intermediary therein where such intermediary is acting in fact for or in behalf, or is subject to the direct or indirect control, of any party to such transaction other than the person by whom such compensation is so granted or paid.

(d) Payment for services or facilities for processing or sale.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce to pay or contract for the payment of anything of value to or for the benefit of a customer of such person in the course of such commerce as compensation or in consideration for any services or facilities furnished by or through such customer in connection with the processing, handling, sale, or offering for sale of any products or commodities manufactured, sold, or offered for sale by such person, unless such payment or consideration is available on proportionally equal terms to all other customers competing in the distribution of such products or commodities.

(e) Furnishing services or facilities for processing, handling, etc.

It shall be unlawful for any person to discriminate in favor of one purchaser against another purchaser or purchasers of a commodity bought for resale, with or without processing, by contracting to furnish or furnishing, or by contributing to the furnishing of, any services or facilities connected with the processing, handling, sale, or offering for sale of such commodity so purchased upon terms not accorded to all purchasers on proportionally equal terms.

(f) Knowingly inducing or receiving discriminatory price.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, knowingly to induce or receive a discrimination in price which is prohibited by this section. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 2, 38 Stat. 730; June 19, 1936, ch. 592, § 1, 49 Stat. 1526.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Administrative authority, to enforce compliance with this section, see section 21 of this title.

Exemption of non-profit institutions from provisions of this section, see section 13c of this title.

Power of Federal Trade Commission to prevent unfair trade practices, see section 45 of this title.

§ 13a. Discrimination in rebates, discounts, or advertising service charges; underselling in particular localities; penalties.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, to be a party to, or assist in, any transaction of sale, or contract to sell, which discriminates to his knowledge against competitors of the purchaser, in that, any discount, rebate, allowance, or advertising service charge is granted to the purchaser over and above any discount, rebate, allowance, or advertising service charge available at the time of such transaction to said competitors in respect of a sale of goods of like grade, quality, and quantity; to sell, or contract to sell, goods in any part of the United States at prices lower than those exacted by said person elsewhere in the United States for the purpose of destroying competition, or eliminating a competitor in such part of the United States; or, to sell, or contract to sell, goods at unreasonably low prices for the purpose of destroying competition or eliminating a competitor.

Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (June 19, 1936, ch. 592, § 3, 49 Stat. 1528.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Exemption on non-profit institutions from provisions of this section, see section 13c of this title.

Misdemeanor, offense punishable by imprisonment not exceeding one year as, see section 1 of Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure.

§ 13b. Cooperative association; return of net earnings or surplus.

Nothing in sections 13-13b and 21a of this title shall prevent a cooperative association from returning to its members, producers, or consumers the whole, or any part of, the net earnings or surplus resulting from its trading operations, in proportion to their purchases or sales from, to, or through the association. (June 19, 1936, ch. 592, § 4, 49 Stat. 1528.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Exemptions on non-profit institutions from provisions of this section, see section 13c of this title.

§ 13c. Exemption of non-profit institutions from price discrimination provisions.

Nothing in sections 13-13b and 21a of this title, shall apply to purchases of their supplies for their own use by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches, hospitals, and charitable institutions not operated for profit. (May 26, 1938, ch. 283, 52 Stat. 446.)

§ 14. Sale, etc., on agreement not to use goods of com. petitor.

It shall be unlawful for any person engaged in commerce, in the course of such commerce, to lease or make a sale or contract for sale of goods, wares, merchandise, machinery, supplies, or other commodities, whether patented or unpatented, for use, consumption, or resale within the United States or any Territory thereof or the District of Columbia or any insular possession or other place under the jurisdiction of the United States, or fix a price charged therefor, or discount from, or rebate upon, such price, on the condition, agreement, or understanding that the lessee or purchaser thereof shall not use or deal in the goods, wares, merchandise, machinery, supplies, or other commodities of a competitor or competitors of the lessor or seller, where the effect of such lease, sale, or contract for sale or such condition, agreement, or understanding may be to substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in any line of commerce. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 3, 38 Stat. 731.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Administrative authority to enforce compliance with this section, see section 21 of this title.

Monopolizing trade, see section 2 of this title.

§ 15. Suits by persons injured; amount of recovery. Any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws may sue therefor in any district court of the United States in the district in which the de

fendant resides or is found or has an agent, without respect to the amount in controversy, and shall recover threefold the damages by him sustained, and the cost of suit, including a reasonable attorney's fee. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 4, 38 Stat. 731.)

CODIFICATION

Section applies to the provisions of this chapter generally and supersedes two former similar sections enacted by act July 2, 1890, ch. 647, § 7, 26 Stat. 210 and act Aug. 27; 1894, ch. 349, § 77, 28 Stat. 570, each of which were restricted in operation to the particular act cited.

CROSS REFERENCES

Jurisdiction of civil action or proceeding arising under commerce and anti-trust regulations, see section 1337 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Limitation of action, suspension of, see note under section 16 of this title.

Venue and service of process in action against corporation, see section 22 of this title.

Venue of district courts, see section 1391 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

Costs, see rule 54, following section 2072 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effect of rule 54 on this section, see note by Advisory Committee under said rule 54.

§ 16. Judgment in favor of Government as evidence; limitation of actions.

A final judgment or decree rendered in any criminal prosecution or in any suit or proceeding in equity brought by or on behalf of the United States under the antitrust laws to the effect that a defendant has violated said laws shall be prima facie evidence against such defendant in any suit or proceeding brought by any other party against such defendant under said laws as to all matters respecting which said judgment or decree would be an estoppel as between the parties thereto: Provided, This section shall not apply to consent judgments or decrees entered before any testimony has been taken.

Whenever any suit or proceeding in equity or criminal prosecution is instituted by the United States to prevent, restrain, or punish violations of any of the antitrust laws, the running of the statute of limitations in respect of each and every private right of action arising under said laws and based in whole or in part on any matter complained of in said suit or proceeding shall be suspended during the pendency thereof. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 5, 38 Stat. 731.) CODIFICATION

The first paragraph of section 5 of act Oct. 15, 1914, contained a second proviso, applicable to pending proceedings, as follows: Provided further, This section shall not apply to consent judgments or decrees rendered in criminal proceedings or suits in equity, now pending, in which the taking of testimony has been commenced but has not been concluded, provided such judgments or decrees are rendered before any further testimony is taken." SUSPENSION OF LIMITATION

Act Oct. 10, 1942, ch. 589, 56 Stat. 781, as amended June 30, 1945, ch. 213, 59 Stat. 306, provided for the suspension of any existing statutes of limitations relating to violations of antitrust laws now indictable or subject to civil proceedings under any existing statutes, until June 30, 1946.

FEDERAL RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as governing the procedure in all suits of a civil nature whether cognizable

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§ 17. Antitrust laws not applicable to labor organizations.

The labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce. Nothing contained in the antitrust laws shall be construed to forbid the existence and operation of labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations, instituted for the purposes of mutual help, and not having capital stock or conducted for profit, or to forbid or restrain individual members of such organizations from lawfully carrying out the legitimate objects thereof; nor shall such organizations, or the members thereof, be held or construed to be illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade, under the antitrust laws. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 6, 38 Stat. 731.)

ANTI-RACKETEERING ACT

Title II of act June 18, 1934, ch. 659, as added by act June 3, 1946, ch. 537, 60 Stat. 420, which provided that nothing in former sections 420a to 420e-1, of Title 18, should be construed to repeal, modify or effect this section, was repealed by act June 25, 1948, ch. 645, § 21, 62 Stat. 862, eff. Sept. 1, 1948.

CROSS REFERENCES

Jurisdiction to restrain violations of restrictions on payments to employee representatives without regard to section, see section 186 of Title 29, Labor.

Restriction of injunctive relief in labor actions, see sections 52 and 107 of Title 29, Labor.

§ 18. Acquisition by one corporation of stock of another.

No corporation engaged in commerce shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital and no corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission shall acquire the whole or any part of the assets of another corporation engaged also in commerce, where in any line of commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.

No corporation shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital and no corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Trade Commission shall acquire the whole or any part of the assets of one or more corporations engaged in commerce, where in any line of commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition, of such stocks or assets, or of the use of such stock by the voting or granting of proxies or otherwise, may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly.

This section shall not apply to corporations purchasing such stock solely for investment and not using the same by voting or otherwise to bring about, or in attempting to bring about, the substantial lessening of competition. Nor shall anything contained in this section prevent a corporation engaged

in commerce from causing the formation of subsidiary corporations for the actual carrying on of their immediate lawful business, or the natural and legitimate branches or extensions thereof, or from owning and holding all or a part of the stock of such subsidiary corporations, when the effect of such formation is not to substantially lessen competition.

Nor shall anything herein contained be construed to prohibit any common carrier subject to the laws to regulate commerce from aiding in the construction of branches or short lines so located as to become feeders to the main line of the company so aiding in such construction or from acquiring or owning all or any part of the stock of such branch lines, nor to prevent any such common carrier from acquiring and owning all or any part of the stock of a branch or short line constructed by an independent company where there is no substantial competition between the company owning the branch line so constructed and the company owning the main line acquiring the property or an interest therein, nor to prevent such common carrier from extending any of its lines through the medium of the acquisition of stock or otherwise of any other common carrier where there is no substantial competition between the company extending its lines and the company whose stock, property, or an interest therein is so acquired.

Nothing contained in this section shall be held to affect or impair any right heretofore legally acquired: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be held or construed to authorize or make lawful anything heretofore prohibited or made illegal by the antitrust laws, nor to exempt any person from the penal provisions thereof or the civil remedies therein provided.

Nothing contained in this section shall apply to transactions duly consummated pursuant to authority given by the Civil Aeronautics Board, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Power Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission in the exercise of its jurisdiction under section 79 of this title, the United States Maritime Commission, or the Secretary of Agriculture under any statutory provision vesting such power in such Commission, Secretary, or Board. (Oct. 15, 1914, ch. 323, § 7, 38 Stat. 731; Dec. 29, 1950, 12:50 a. m., ch. 1184, 64 Stat. 1125.) AMENDMENTS

1950-Act Dec. 29, 1950, amended section generally so as to prohibit the acquisition of the whole or any part of the assets of another corporation when the effect of the acquisition may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly.

ABOLISHMENT OF COMMISSION AND TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS The United States Maritime Commission was abolished by 1950 Reorg. Plan No. 21, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F. R. 3178, 64 Stat. 1273, set out in note under section 1111 of Title 46, Shipping, which transferred part of its functions and part of the functions of its Chairman, to the Federal Maritime Board and the Chairman thereof, such Board having been created by that Plan as an agency within the Department of Commerce with an independent status in some respects, and transferred the remainder of such Commission's functions and the functions of its

Chairman to the Secretary of Commerce, with power vested in the Secretary to authorize their performance by the Maritime Administrator, the head of the Maritime Administration, which likewise was established by the Plan in the Department of Commerce with the provision that the Chairman of said Federal Maritime Board should, ex officio, be such Administrator.

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

All executive and administrative functions of the Maritime Commission were transferred to the Chairman of the Maritime Commission by 1949 Reorg. Plan No. 6, eff. Aug. 19, 1949, 14 F. R. 5228, 63 Stat. 1069. See note set out under section 1111 of Title 46, Shipping.

CROSS REFERENCES

Acquisition of stock of export trade corporation, see section 63 of this title.

Administrative authority to enforce compliance with this section, see section 21 of this title.

Divestment of stock held contrary to the provisions of this section, see section 21 of this title.

§ 19. Interlocking directorates and officers.

No private banker or director, officer, or employee of any member bank of the Federal Reserve System or any branch thereof shall be at the same time a director, officer, or employee of any other bank, banking association, savings bank, or trust company organized under the National Bank Act or organized under the laws of any State or of the District of Columbia, or any branch thereof, except that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may by regulation permit such service as a director, officer, or employee of not more than one other such institution or branch thereof; but the foregoing prohibition shall not apply in the case of any one or more of the following or any branch thereof:

(1) A bank, banking association, savings bank, or trust company, more than 90 per centum of the stock of which is owned directly or indirectly by the United States or by any corporation of which the United States directly or indirectly owns more than 90 per centum of the stock.

(2) A bank, banking association, savings bank, or trust company which has been placed formally in liquidation or which is in the hands of a receiver, conservator, or other official exercising similar functions.

(3) A corporation, principally engaged in international or foreign banking or banking in a dependency or insular possession of the United States which has entered into an agreement with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System pursuant to sections 601-604 of Title 12.

(4) A bank, banking association, savings bank, or trust company, more than 50 per centum of the common stock of which is owned directly or indirectly by persons who own directly or indirectly more than 50 per centum of the common stock of such member bank.

(5) A bank, banking association, savings bank, or trust company not located and having no branch in the same city, town, or village as that in which such member bank or any branch thereof is located, or in any city, town, or village contiguous or adjacent thereto.

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