Editing Price fixing (section)

===United States===
In the United States, price fixing can be prosecuted as a criminal [[federal offense]] under Section 1 of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1|title=15 U.S. Code § 1 - Trusts, etc., in restraint of trade illegal; penalty|website=law.cornell.edu|publisher=[[Legal Information Institute]]|access-date=January 20, 2023}}</ref>

Criminal prosecutions must be handled by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]], but the [[Federal Trade Commission]] also has jurisdiction for civil antitrust violations. Many [[state attorney general|state attorneys general]] also bring [[antitrust]] cases and have antitrust offices, such as [[Virginia]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[California]]. Further, where price fixing is used as an artifice to defraud a U.S. government agency into paying more than market value, the U.S. attorney may proceed under the [[False Claims Act]].

Private individuals or organizations may file lawsuits for triple damages for antitrust violations and, depending on the law, recover attorneys fees and costs expended on prosecution of a case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oag.state.ny.us/business/antitrust.html|title=About Antitrust Bureau|website=oag.state.ny.us|publisher=[[Attorney General of New York|New York State Attorney General]]|access-date=June 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929184231/http://www.oag.state.ny.us/business/antitrust.html|archive-date=September 29, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="be-careful">{{cite web|url=http://apa.pmai.org/readall/antitrustlaw.html |title=Be Careful About Antitrust Law!|date=February 2000|publisher=Art Publishers Association|access-date=June 15, 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927185403/http://apa.pmai.org/readall/antitrustlaw.html|archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref> If the case at hand also violates the [[False Claims Act of 1863]], in addition to the Sherman Act, private individuals may also bring a civil action in the name of the United States under the ''[[Qui Tam]]'' provision of The False Claims Act.

Under American law, exchanging prices among competitors can also violate the [[antitrust laws]]. That includes exchanging prices with the intent to fix prices or the exchange affecting the prices individual competitors set. Proof that competitors have shared prices can be used as part of the evidence of an illegal price fixing agreement.<ref name="be-careful"/> Experts generally advise that competitors avoid even the appearance of agreeing on price.<ref name="be-careful"/>

Since 1997, US courts have divided price fixing into two categories: vertical and horizontal maximum price fixing.<ref name="tsui">{{cite journal|title=Interstate Comparison – Use of Contribution Margin in Determination of Price Fixing|last=Tsui|first=Tat Chee|journal=Pace International Law Review Online Companion|volume=1|date=April 2011|ssrn=1839223}}</ref> Vertical price fixing includes a manufacturer's attempt to control the price of its product at retail.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sauer|first=Raymond D.|title=VERTICAL PRICE FIXING|url=http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sauerr/classes/309/vertpfix.htm|access-date=July 9, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708042032/http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~sauerr/classes/309/vertpfix.htm|archive-date=July 8, 2013}}</ref> In ''[[State Oil Co. v. Khan]]'',<ref>{{ussc|name=State Oil Co. v. Khan|volume=522|page=3|pin=|year=1997}}.</ref> the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] held that vertical price fixing is no longer considered a ''per se'' violation of the Sherman Act, but horizontal price fixing is still considered a breach of the Sherman Act. Also in 2008, the defendants of ''United States v LG Display Co.'', ''United States v. Chunghwa Picture Tubes'', and ''United States v. Sharp Corporation'', heard in the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California]], agreed to pay a total sum of $585 million to settle their prosecutions for conspiring to fix prices of liquid crystal display panels. That was the second largest amount awarded under the Sherman Act in history.<ref name="tsui"/>