CDA Urges Biden Administration to Use Anti-Trust Laws to Protect Consumers, Spur Economic Growth and Ensure Competition in the Marketplace
Antitrust provisions of our law are critical tools held by federal regulators to ensure that corporations that operate in the United States — and benefit from the most lucrative and lawful business climate in the world — agree to either operate under principles that prevent companies from stifling competition and offer reasonable consumer protections, or face the consequences of regulatory oversight.
To be clear, mergers are a normal part of business, and should not be condemned because “mergers are bad.” Rather, each potential deal should be assessed on its merits, and the government should step in if: the merger is perceived as creating an anti-competitive environment; would hurt consumers by depriving them choice; or would have deleterious impacts on our economy or nation.
As the Biden administration moves forward in examining potential future deals, we urge the appropriate regulatory agencies, primarily the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice (and even the Department of Defense in the case of mergers with national security or military implications or the Federal Communications Commission when media companies consolidate) to aggressively review each potential merger. We are pushing for increased scrutiny, because we are all witnessing the impacts of consolidation in the economy.
Today, our choices of where to shop, how to surf the Internet, what to eat and where to buy our food, are increasingly being controlled by fewer and fewer companies and individuals. We believe that at times, these multinational corporations which dominate so many business sectors, are not good for our economy, or protecting Americans — especially the working class.
We all supported Joe Biden, because he promised to stand up for the working class, and we urge him to use his full array of antitrust powers to protect everyone, but especially those Americans who work for a living, and need more access to wealth that is slowly but surely being denied to them.
