Prisoner's Dilemma, Cartels Cheating is a dominant strategy. This means that regardless of what the other player does, it is profitable to cheat. However, cooperation maximizes joint profit. In a cartel, when one firm holds up on its output, it is the other firms who benefit because the price is higher.
Actual cartels have a prisoner's dilemma aspect.
If no, the cartel will certainly break down. Members of the cartel produce more than their output quota to lower price. Punish a firm by lowering the firm's profit in the future. Very important point - when the cartel punishes a cheater in this way, it also punishes itself. If not, the potential cheater will not be deterred by this punishment.