MSCI Joins U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Defend Procompetitive Role Of Trade Associations

The Metals Service Center Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a coalition of other trade associations submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on May 20 regarding the agencies’ guidance on business collaborations.

The comment letter, available at this link, encouraged the DOJ and the FTC to issue definitive guidance, including the addition of an “antitrust safety zone” regarding the procompetitive role of trade associations, the constitutional protections that safeguard their activities, and the longstanding legal consensus that trade association membership and joint advocacy do not, standing alone, give rise to antitrust liability.

“To encourage such procompetitive collaboration, revised guidelines should create a safety zone for membership and joint advocacy within a trade association,” MSCI and its allies argued. “In particular, revised guidelines should expressly recognize that most trade association activities, including joint advocacy, networking, training, reasonable information sharing, and transparent standard-setting promote competition and benefit consumers.”

The letter also asked that revised guidelines recognize the basic principle that the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s right of expressive association and right to petition the government apply fully to trade associations and their members.