cartel
/kɑːˈtel/ (bre, ipa) · /kɑːrˈtel/ (ame, ipa) · /kär-ˈtel/ (ame, mw)
cartel — noun
- cartelsingular
- cartelsplural
1. a group of independent businesses or organisations that secretly work together t
a group of independent businesses or organisations that secretly work together to fix prices, divide up markets, or stop competition, so they can all make more money than they would by competing fairly
The oil cartel agreed to cut daily production and raise prices worldwide.
collocation: oil cartel
Elena's report exposed a cartel fixing the price of generic medicine in Brazil.
Ingrid helped break up a milk cartel that had kept dairy prices high for years.
The cement cartel was fined millions for driving up construction costs across Europe.
The coffee cartel kept farmer wages low for over a decade, as Dev's research showed.
- consortium
more neutral and often legal; a consortium can be formed openly for a joint project without the secretive, anti-competitive intent of a cartel
- syndicate
often used for groups involved in crime or for distributing content (newspaper syndicate); carries a stronger suggestion of coordinated control
- trust
a historical term from late-19th-century American antitrust law; now used mainly in legal and historical contexts
用法筆記
A cartel involves multiple independent companies cooperating secretly. This is different from a monopoly, where a single company controls the whole market. Cartels are illegal in most countries under competition law.