US Chamber Of Commerce Calls Antitrust Bills “Dangerous”

On Tuesday, June 22, the US Chamber of Commerce criticized antitrust legislation set to be considered this week by a US House of Representatives committee, claiming the bills would have “dangerous consequences for America.”

According to Reuters, the largest US business group stated “antitrust laws should not be rigged against a small number of companies. Such an approach punishes success and has the government picking winners and losers in our free market economy.”

The US House Judiciary Committee will vote on Wednesday on a package of antitrust bills, including several targeting the market power of Big Tech.

Two of the bills address the issue of giant companies, such as Amazon and Google, creating a platform for other businesses and then competing against those same businesses. A third bill would require a platform to refrain from any merger unless it can show the acquired company does not compete with any product or service the platform is in.

For its part, Amazon’s Brian Huseman, vice president of public policy, said on Tuesday that the company believed that the bills “would have significant negative effects on the hundreds of thousands of American small- and medium-sized businesses that sell in our store, and tens of millions of consumers who buy products from Amazon.”

“The committee is moving unnecessarily fast in pushing these bills forward,” added Husemen. “We encourage Chairman (David) Cicilline and committee members to slow down, postpone the markup, and thoroughly vet the language in the bills for unintended negative consequences.”

Five of the six bills to be considered on Wednesday were introduced to the House on Friday.