FTC Pesticide Suit Dusts Off Some Rare Antitrust Tools

The Federal Trade Commission and 10 U.S. states recently filed an antitrust complaint against Syngenta AG and Corteva Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

In a Sept. 29 complaint, the enforcement agencies allege that the defendants "impeded competitors and artificially inflated the prices that U.S. farmers pay" for crop-protection products — pesticides — by deploying loyalty programs to "severely limit the availability of lower-priced generic products."

This article analyzes the government's allegations and provides important guidance for companies that leverage loyalty programs and exclusive deals as part of their business strategy.

Read the full article on Law360*.

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