Four major insurance brokers agreed that when it came time for renewals of coverage with major customers that only one of them would submit a reasonable bid. The three others would submit a much higher price and thereby not be in the running for the renewal. The agreements of the insurance brokers: a. are an example of horizontal trade restraint. b. save time and money and are not anti competitive. c. are an example of tying. d. are an example of vertical trade restraint.

When using horizontal trade restraint the insurance brokers are in a respectable agreement with each other. They all determine who will submit the bid so that they will minimize their competition with each other. They only do this when they are in the same market as each other. Business people at a higher level in the market may not adhere to this the horizontal trade restraint agreement.

If it was a vertical trade agreement it would be against firms or other businesses people at different levels in the same business.