Y4.589':94-10 24-1 FAIR TRADE HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON MONOPOLIES AND COMMERCIAL LAW OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY NINETY-FOURTH CONGRESS COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PETER W. RODINO, JR., New Jersey, Chairman JACK BROOKS, Texas ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER, Wisconsin WILLIAM L. HUNGATE, Missouri EDWARD HUTCHINSON, Michigan EARL C. DUDLEY, Jr., General Counsel. HERBERT FUCHS, Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON MONOPOLIES AND COMMEROTAL LAW PETER W. RODINO, JR., New Jersey, Chairman CONTENTS Bruner, Curtis L., president, Classic Chemicals, Ltd., accompanied by Clearwaters, Keith I., Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust 50 50, 53 Additional material- "Fair Trade- or Price Fixing?" the Washington Star, March 9, 1975-- "Farewell to 'Fair Trade,' "The Unfairness of Fair Trade," the Chicago Tribune, February 17, Correspondence and statements in opposition to repeal of fair trade laws- Hobby, George T., letter dated March 31, 1975, to Hon. Peter W. National Association of Retail Druggists, prepared statement_ National Liquor Stores Association, Inc., prepared statement. Schwinn Bicycle Co., prepared statement- 159 Wimmer, Ed, president, Forward America, Inc., letter dated April 10, Correspondence and statements in favor of H.R. 2384— Datt, John C., director, congressional relations, American Farm Jensen, Tom, chairman, Intergovernmental Relations Committee, Na- Mass Retailing Institute, prepared statement_ Page 188 199 188 191 191 FAIR TRADE TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 1975 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON MONOPOLIES AND COMMERCIAL LAW OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:04 a.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Peter W. Rodino, Jr. [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Rodino, Flowers, Sarbanes, Jordan, Mezvinsky, Mazzoli, Hughes, Hutchinson, McClory, and Cohen. Also present: Earl C. Dudley, Jr., general counsel, and Franklin G. Polk, associate counsel. Chairman RODINO. The committee will come to order. Today we begin hearings on three essentially identical bills to repeal the so-called Fair Trade provisos to the Sherman Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. This simple repealing legislation may be the most effective single action the Congress can take to combat inflation in certain areas of the economy. Agreements, whether vertical or horizontal, to fix and maintain prices are classic restraints of trade. They have long been considered per se illegal under our antitrust laws. Presently the Miller-Tydings and McGuire Acts create exceptions to this rule of illegality where State laws permit sellers to specify resale prices for their products. In some States these laws, with the express approval of the McGuire Act, go so far as to permit enforcement of resale price maintenance against those who have refused to sign such agreements. Laws permitting resale price maintenance were children of the great depression, when it was argued that they would provide a safeguard against small business failures. Under the aegis of the Federal antitrust exemptions, some form of resale price maintenance legislation was enacted by 46 States. These laws have proved to be failures. This is reflected by the fact that a growing number of States have got rid of them, either through repeal or court decision. The time has come, in my judgment, to repeal the Federal exemptions on which the remaining State statutes rest. The principal argument in favor of resale price maintenance laws is that they protect the small independent retailer from the predatory pricing practices of the big chains. But economic studies clearly indicate that small business failure rates are as high or higher in so-called fair trade States as they are in States allowing free price competition. (1) |