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Economic & Financial Regulation

Clayton Antitrust Act

Enacted: 1914

Signed into law by

Woodrow Wilson

In brief

Strengthened the Sherman Act by outlawing specific anticompetitive practices and exempting labor unions from antitrust liability.

The Act in depth

Signed by Woodrow Wilson on October 15, 1914, the Clayton Act plugged loopholes in the Sherman Act by prohibiting specific practices — price discrimination, tying arrangements, exclusive dealing, and mergers that substantially lessen competition. Section 6 famously declared that 'the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce,' exempting union activity from antitrust suits and reversing years of hostile injunctions. The same Congress created the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the new competition rules. Together with the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act frames modern merger review and antitrust litigation.

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