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Glite Dictionary
fair-trade act

fair-trade act

7.8
Former US law that let manufacturers require shops to sell goods at a minimum price
  • noun
  • /fɛr treɪd ækt/
  • Formal
translation icon : ley de comercio justo
  • The fair-trade act allowed manufacturers to enforce minimum prices for branded goods across different stores.

Examples

  • Many retailers were restricted in their pricing strategies due to the fair-trade act until its repeal in 1975.

  • The fair-trade act established minimum prices to prevent price competition among retailers in the United States.

  • Legal scholars often debate the effects the fair-trade act had on competition in the U.S. market.

  • The fair-trade act was designed to protect manufacturers.

  • Many states implemented the fair-trade act in the 1930s.

  • Due to the fair-trade act, retailers were required to sell products at a set minimum price until it was repealed.

  • Experts agree that the fair-trade act played a significant role in shaping retail pricing practices in the 20th century.

Surface Forms

fair-trade act singular
fair-trade acts plural

Morphology

fair-trade + act

A B1 learner who knows 'fair', 'trade' and 'act' will correctly infer this denotes a law about trading practices because 'act' signals a statute and 'fair-trade' points to fairness in commerce. However, the specific historical/legal sense (laws allowing manufacturers to set minimum retail prices) is specialized and not predictable from the parts, so the meaning is only partially derivable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Fair-trade act came from the idea that making fair rules for trade would protect small shops from bigger stores that cut prices. That's why the phrase means a law that let manufacturers 'set minimum retail prices'.