cartel
cartel — noun
- cartelsingular
- cartelsplural
1. a group of independent companies that work together secretly to control the pric
a group of independent companies that work together secretly to control the price or supply of a product, limiting competition in order to increase their profits
The European Commission broke up a cartel of six steel manufacturers in 2023.
passive: break up + a cartel of [companies]
Roya discovered that a cartel of coffee exporters had secretly fixed prices for years.
cartel + of + exporters + price-fixing pattern
The three construction companies operated as a cartel to rig bids for public projects.
In 2022, South Korean regulators fined a cartel of four battery manufacturers $200 million for fixing prices.
Nora's economics professor explained how a shipping cartel had inflated freight costs.
- monopoly
a single company that dominates a market, rather than multiple companies acting together
- alliance
a more general term for any group working together, without the illegal price-fixing connotation
- consortium
a formal group of companies working on a joint project, usually legal and legitimate
- competition
the free-market condition cartels try to eliminate
文法句型
cartel + of + companies
form/operate/break up + a cartel
用法筆記
The term almost always carries a negative meaning, since cartels act against fair market competition. In everyday news, 'drug cartel' is also common, referring to criminal organisations that control the illegal drug trade.