On The Institution Of Exemption In American Antitrust

The U.S.A is the first country that established the antitrust system as well as the most developed country in the world. Its antitrust system has a great influence on the anti-monopoly law and system in other countries all over the world. The exemption institution is a vital content of the American antitrust laws, as well as a important tool for the U.S government to balance the mult-dimensional relationship between competition policy and industrial policy, federal and state regimes, free market and regulatory states, national competition and international competition. In this article, the author uses the methodologies of historical analysis and case analysis to approach this institution. Firstly, the author investigates and concludes the evolution of exemption institution of American antitrust laws as well as the factors that contribute to the evolution. Then, the author analyzes the framework, dimension, and the inner logic of American antitrust exemption, including the special policy exemption, regulatory exemption, immunity for state and local government, and exemption for petition. On approaching this issue, the author analyzes the existing acts, thus to clarify the framework, as well as the critical cases concerned, thus to define the boundary. At last, based on the analysis of the prior steps, the author develops the idea of American antitrust exemption, including the relationships between antitrust exemption and national competitiveness, interests group, social trends, federalism, as well as constitutional rights. In this way, the author try to discern the essence of the idea.