Archive Report
Archive Report
Congress and Basing Point Price Systems
Opening of Inquiry on Indutrial Pricing Policies
Legal and economic questions pertaining to the use of certain pricing methods widely employed in American industry are due for a thorough airing at Senate hearings which opened Nov. 9 and which may continue into January. The specific problem before the Senate Trade Policies Committee, headed by Sen. Capehart (R., Ind.),1 is whether or not to recommend that Congress expressly authorize use of basing-point and other uniform delivered price systems under safeguards designed to preserve free competition. Recent court decisions have raised serious doubts as to the legality of those pricing practices. It has been contended that if they must be generally abandoned, as violative of the antitrust or anti-price discrimination laws, the ...