A national coalition will campaign for stricter antitrust laws, including measures that could force Amazon to spin off some of its business, reported Wall Street Journal.
The effort is being launched Tuesday, April 6, by trade groups that represent small hardware stores, office suppliers, booksellers, grocers and others, along with business groups from 12 cities, organizers say. Merchants plan to push their congressional representatives for stricter antitrust laws and tougher enforcement of existing ones.
The groups, which collectively represent thousands of businesses, want federal legislation that would prevent the owner of a dominant online marketplace from selling its own products in competition with other sellers, a policy that could effectively separate Amazon’s retail product business from its online marketplace.
Members of the House Antitrust Subcommittee are considering legislation along those lines as they weigh changes to US antitrust law, though no bill has yet been introduced.
The merchant groups also want tougher enforcement of competition laws and legal changes that would make it easier for the government to win antitrust lawsuits against big companies.
In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the company’s critics “are suggesting misguided interventions in the free market that would kill off independent retailers and punish consumers by forcing small businesses out of popular online stores, raising prices, and reducing consumer choice and convenience.”
“Amazon and third-party sellers complement each other, and sellers having the opportunity to sell right alongside a retailer’s products is the very competition that most benefits consumers and has made the marketplace model so successful for third-party sellers,” the spokesperson added.
Featured News
FTC Urged to Enforce Rarely Used Antitrust Law Against Retail Giants
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
UK’s Fingleton Bolsters Team with New Additions
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Britain’s Competition Regulator Clears Aviva’s Acquisition of AIG Life UK
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
White House Implements New AI Safeguards to Protect Rights and Safety
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Denver Court Sets August Date for Kroger-Albertsons Merger Showdown
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Real Estate & Antitrust
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Systematic National Evidence of Steering by Real Estate Agents
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Compliance Now! Actionable Antitrust Advice for the Residential Real Estate Industry
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Real Estate Commissions: Some Insights from the Economics of Multi-Sided Platforms
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
New Ideas for Promoting Real Estate Brokerage Price Competition
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI