Antitrust Compliance Policy
Ensuring collaboration preserves healthy competition.
AIAG provides a dynamic forum where people and companies from across the global automotive industry collaborate on shared challenges and propel our industry forward. We intentionally take care to ensure that this collaboration does not interfere with the healthy competition that also benefits our industry and world. In fact, empowering smaller suppliers to compete and excel on the global stage is a big part of our work.
What’s AIAG’s stance on competition?
AIAG believes that competition is the fairest and most efficient type of economic behavior. Any activity that intentionally or unintentionally reduces competition or restrains trade is contrary to this belief and AIAG policy.
What is antitrust law?
Federal and state antitrust laws are designed to protect and promote competition. They do this by making it illegal for competitors and associations of competitors to fix prices or unreasonably restrain competition. Violations of antitrust laws can be punished with large financial penalties, as well as criminal penalties against involved businesses and individuals. In addition, antitrust violations can severely damage a business’s reputation and commercial relationships.
In the interest of facilitating collaboration among members, trade associations can unwittingly create opportunities for competitors to engage in anti-competitive behavior. In the words of one court: “Competitors are permitted by the antitrust laws to engage in cooperative behavior, under trade association auspices or otherwise, provided they don't reduce competition among themselves or help their suppliers or customers to reduce competition.”
AIAG is committed to antitrust compliance and expects the same from its members.
Management Responsibilities
As stated in AIAG bylaws, it is AIAG’s intention to comply fully with antitrust laws in the conduct of its activities. In addition, AIAG’s management and staff must do everything in their power to ensure that AIAG and our members do not violate antitrust laws while engaged in AIAG-facilitated activities.
| Specific management responsibilities include: |
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| AIAG’s CEO must periodically review this policy statement with AIAG management personnel and its Board of Directors. |
| AIAG’s legal counsel for antitrust matters must periodically review AIAG’s antitrust policy and meet with AIAG’s management to provide antitrust training. |
| AIAG’s legal counsel for antitrust matters must review in advance all new AIAG programs that may have antitrust implications. |
| AIAG’s management must discuss any possible or prospective violations of the antitrust laws with the CEO or AIAG’s legal counsel for antitrust matters. |
| AIAG’s management must ensure that this policy is displayed in venues where it will remind management and members of the importance of antitrust compliance, including AIAG’s website and physical offices. |
| AIAG’s management personnel must ensure that every AIAG meeting, whether held in AIAG’s offices, off-site, or by electronic means, fulfills the following requirements: |
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| A public announcement of the meeting date, time, and location; |
| An agenda, published in advance, that calls for review of this antitrust policy and verbalization of the Meeting Antitrust Requirements set forth below; |
| A complete list of all attendees; |
| Minutes noting the verbalization of Meeting Antitrust Requirements and listing every topic of discussion; and |
| Archiving of minutes and other records of any meetings. |
Meeting Antitrust Requirements
AIAG members must comply with the following requirements when meeting in AIAG’s offices, off-site, or by electronic means. If any of these requirements are at risk of being breached during a meeting by inappropriate dialogue, participating members should immediately request any such dialogue be ceased immediately. If such dialogue is not ceased immediately, all participants must immediately suspend the meeting and report the dialogue to AIAG’s CEO.
These requirements are partial. Other types of activity on the part of members may compromise antitrust violations. General questions regarding these requirements should be raised to the CEO or AIAG’s legal counsel for antitrust matters. However, it is incumbent upon members to seek the advice of their own legal counsel with respect to specific questions and incidents.
| Requirements regarding your company’s or competitors’ products and services: |
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| Do not discuss current or future prices. |
| Do not discuss any increase or decrease in prices. |
| Do not discuss pricing procedures. |
| Do not discuss standardizing or stabilizing prices. |
| Do not ask competitors why a past bid was so low, or to describe the basis for a past bid. |
| Do not discuss what is a fair profit level. |
| Do not discuss controlling sales or allocating geographic, product, or other markets for any product. |
| Do not discuss future design or marketing strategies. |
| Do not discuss credit terms. |
| Do not discuss banning or otherwise restricting legitimate advertising by competitors. |
| Do not discuss allocating customers. |
| Requirements regarding your company’s or your competitors’ selection of their supplier companies: |
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| Do not discuss refusing to deal with a company because of its pricing or distribution practices. |
| Do not discuss strategies or plans to award business or remove business from a specific company. |
| Requirements regarding your company’s or competitors’ trade secrets: |
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| Do not discuss trade secrets or confidential information of your company or any other member. |
REMEMBER: Both your company and you as an individual can be prosecuted for violations of antitrust laws.