Federal Maritime Commission v. Aktiebolaget Svenska Amerika Linien/Concurrence Harlan

Mr. Justice HARLAN, concurring in the result.

I concur in the result reached by the Court, substantially for the reasons stated in the Court's opinion. However, I cannot join in the Court's general statements, ante, at 244-246, concerning the relationship between the antitrust laws and the 'contrary to the public interest' standard of § 15 of the Shipping Act. It seems plain that the 'contrary to the public interest' test was intended to comprehend factors unique to the shipping industry as well as those embodied in the antitrust laws. Hence, I believe that under the Act the Commission may not place upon a shipping conference the burden of justifying an agreement until the Commission has determined that in light of both shipping and antitrust factors the agreement would be 'contrary to the public interest' in the absence of further explanation.