Cartel: agreement to fix prices, allocate markets and coordinate output that undermines competition. Cartel denotes an association or agreement among independent enterprises to control production, distribution, prices, or markets, effectuating restraint of competition by fixing prices, allocating territories, coordinating output, or otherwise limiting rivals; while some references note adjunct purposes like exchange of technical knowledge or standardization, modern usage and authoritative sources emphasize the anticompetitive agreement and monopolistic control aspects.