15 U.S.C. § 62 — Export trade and antitrust legislation

This section protects certain export associations from being called illegal under the Sherman Act — the main U.S. law against trusts and monopolies. An association is protected if it was formed for the sole purpose of engaging in export trade, and it is actually engaged solely in that export trade. Agreements it makes or acts it takes in the course of export trade are also protected. But there are limits. The association, agreement, or act must not restrain trade within the United States. It must not restrain the export trade of any domestic competitor of the association either. There's also a 'Provided' clause with its own conditions: the association must not, in the United States or anywhere else, enter into any agreement, understanding, or conspiracy, or do any act, that artificially or intentionally raises or lowers U.S. prices of the kind of goods the association exports. It also must not substantially lessen competition within the United States or otherwise restrain trade here. If an association crosses any of these lines, it loses the protection this section gives.