Antitrust and Trade Regulation laws aim to promote free competition in the marketplace. Agreements or cooperative efforts by two or more entities that affects or restrains competitors is illegal under these laws. The Sherman Act makes illegal any contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce and makes monopolies and attempts, combinations, or conspiracies to monopolize illegal. The Clayton Act regulate price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing contracts, stock acquisition and interlocking directorates.
Augusta is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 218 at the 2000 census. The town boasts wineries, antique shops, retaurants, B&B's, a wood shop, a glass studio, massage therapy, and The Augusta Brewery. Most notably, the Town of Augusta is home to two wineries, Augusta Winery and Mount Pleasant Winery, along with Balducci Winery and Montelle Winery (also in the Augusta zip code) and other wineries nearby. The Augusta area was recognized by the federal government in 1980 as the first designated American Viticultural Area in the United States, beating out Napa Valley. The concentration of wineries along SH 94 has led to the road's being called the Missouri Weinstrasse (wine road). The larger region on both sides of the river nearly to Jefferson City is called the Missouri Rhineland. Augusta is a popular stop along the Katy Trail, a 225-mile-long bike and walking path built along a former railroad right-of-way.