Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1984
Abstract
After discussing briefly some of the statute's economic implications and limitations, this article will analyze the more significant provisions of the Export Trading Company Act. The Act only recently has been implemented so there is insufficient experience or empirical basis for critiquing the performance of the enforcement agencies. It is not premature, however, to suggest that all administrative and enforcement policies should foster a limited role for government in the operation of export markets. Therefore, regulators empowered to exempt firms from potential antitrust liability should recognize the dual problems inherent in their regulatory activities: They must not impede the efficient organization of an industry as dictated by competitive market forces, and they must not sanction combinations that have the power to limit world-wide production and exact supercompetitive profits from foreign and domestic consumers. Both extremes would necessarily limit production and impede the efficient allocation of resources. In short, those implementing the Act should foster organizations that create otherwise unattainable efficiencies but do not acquire excessive monopoly power.
Recommended Citation
George E. Garvey, Exports, Banking and Antitrust: The Export Trading Company Act: A Modest Tool for Export Promotion, 5 NW. J. INT’L L. & BUS. 818 (1984).