Trade Associations, Group Boycotts, and the Collective Use of Market Power
- Author(s):
- John M. Yun
- Posted:
- 02-2026
- Law & Economics #:
- 26-02
- Availability:
- Full text (most recent) on SSRN
ABSTRACT:
Trade associations can generate substantial procompetitive benefits by supplying industry expertise, developing standards and certifications, and mitigating information asymmetries through the collective knowledge of its members. At the same time, vesting an organization with authority to represent the shared interests of marketplace rivals creates an inherent tension. There is often a fine line between cooperation that benefits consumers and collusion that harms them, including through group boycotts.
This Article examines the treatment of group boycotts under the antitrust laws and proposes an economically grounded framework for categorizing distinct types of cases to assess when such conduct constitutes an antitrust violation. This categorization is based on the nature of the restraint and the level of the supply chain at which the effects are felt. A central contribution of this approach is to clarify that trade association conduct—including group boycotts—often involve different objectives, can produce different competitive harms, and can implicate different relevant markets along a supply chain. The Article further considers how the presence of a multisided platform affects the competitive analysis in trade association disputes.
The Article then applies the framework to X Corp. v. Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a recent antitrust challenge against a coalition of advertisers. X alleges that GARM unlawfully conspired, under the guise of brand-safety standards, to orchestrate an advertising boycott of X. GARM, by contrast, contends that any advertiser withdrawals involved only a subset of members, were not coordinated, and reflected independent, unilateral decisions driven by brand-safety concerns. Further, GARM contents that its actions are protected speech under the First Amendment. This Article concludes with an assessment of the merits of X’s complaint and the validity of GARM’s First Amendment defense under guiding Supreme Court precedents.