Gildan Activewear and wholesale distributor S&S Holdings have revised a partnership agreement after the Federal Trade Commission investigated whether its pricing terms unlawfully disadvantaged competing distributors.
The agency said Thursday that the former contract restricted Gildan’s ability to offer certain prices and support to S&S rivals. Investigators examined whether the manufacturer’s conduct could violate Section 2(a) of the Robinson-Patman Act and whether the distributor knowingly induced or received prohibited discrimination under Section 2(f).
The revised clause now states that nothing in the agreement limits Gildan’s discretion to set prices or provide partnership support to another North American wholesaler. The change is designed to preserve independent pricing decisions and reduce the risk that smaller distributors are shut out of equivalent terms.
The matter ended through a contract modification rather than a litigated judgment or a formal finding of liability. Its wider importance lies in the FTC’s renewed use of the Robinson-Patman Act, a statute that targets certain price differences between competing buyers when the effect may be to harm competition. Future enforcement will still turn on the facts, available defences and proof of competitive injury.
