Cartel

Cartel, formal organization of producers in a particular industry, designed to set prices, control levels of production, and divide markets. Cartels normally attempt to gain sufficient control over supply, demand, and price to produce higher profits for their members. Cartels are illegal in the United States, though U.S. firms are permitted to join international associations. The best known international cartel of the 1970s and 1980s was the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).