15 U.S.C. § 8 — Trusts in restraint of import trade illegal;

Page 19 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 12 (Pub. L. 108–237, title II, § 216, as added Pub. L. 116–257, § 2, Dec. 23, 2020, 134 Stat. 1147.) § 8. Trusts in restraint of import trade illegal; penalty Every combination, conspiracy, trust, agree- ment, 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 cor- porations, either of whom, as agent or principal, is engaged in importing 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 vio- lation 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.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1913—Act Feb. 12, 1913, inserted ‘‘as agent or prin- cipal’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SHORT TITLE Section 77, formerly § 78, of act Aug. 27, 1894, as added by Pub. L. 94–435, title III, § 305(d), Sept. 30, 1976, 90 Stat. 1397; renumbered § 77 and amended Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title IV, § 14102(c)(1)(B), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1921, provided that: ‘‘Sections 73, 74, 75, and 76 of this Act [enacting sections 8 to 11 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Wilson Tariff Act’.’’ § 9. Jurisdiction of courts; duty of United States 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 United States attorneys, 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 com- plained 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 de- cree, the court may at any time make such tem- porary 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; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 1, 62 Stat. 909.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Act Mar. 3, 1911, vested jurisdiction in ‘‘district’’ courts, instead of ‘‘circuit’’ courts. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Act June 25, 1948, eff. Sept. 1, 1948, substituted ‘‘United States attorneys’’ for ‘‘district attorneys of the United States’’. See section 541 et seq. of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure. § 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 re- quire that other parties should be brought be- fore 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 subpoenas to that end may be served in any district by the marshal thereof. (Aug. 27, 1894, ch. 349, § 75, 28 Stat. 570.) § 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 sec- tion 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 Colum- bia, shall be forfeited to the United States, and may be seized and condemned by like pro- ceedings as those provided by law for the for- feiture, 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.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1913—Act Feb. 12, 1913, substituted ‘‘imported into and being within the United States or’’ for ‘‘and’’. § 12. Definitions; short title (a) ‘‘Antitrust laws,’’ as used herein, includes the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to protect trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and mo- nopolies,’’ approved July second, eighteen hun- dred and ninety; sections seventy-three to sev- enty-six, inclusive, of an Act entitled ‘‘An Act to reduce taxation, to provide revenue for the Government, and for other purposes,’’ of August twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety- four; an Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend sections seventy-three and seventy-six of the Act of Au- gust twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and nine- ty-four, entitled ‘An Act to reduce taxation, to provide revenue for the Government, and for other purposes,’ ’’ approved February twelfth, nineteen hundred and thirteen; and also this Act.