Posted by

Theodore A. Gebhard*

The Biden Federal Trade Commission has proposed modifying, or even possibly rescinding, its Statement of Enforcement Principles On Unfair Methods of Competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The link below is to a letter prepared by a number of antitrust scholars and former federal antitrust enforcers commenting on this proposal. The signatories express concern that the Commission will be considering a significant shift in enforcement policy and may go so far as to revoke the existing statement, which provides a bipartisan framework laying out widely agreed upon core principles regarding antitrust law and the Commission’s Section 5 enforcement. These principles include the promotion of consumer welfare and focusing enforcement on acts or practices that “must cause, or be likely to cause, harm to competition or the competitive process.” The signatories’ concern is that a rescission of the current statement could untether the Commission’s enforcement decisions from a focus on harms to consumers and the competitive process. Ashley Baker of the Alliance on Antitrust was the principal drafter of the letter. I am a signatory, and I encourage readers of this post to read the letter in its entirety. A link is below. It is also cross-posted at the Alliance on Antitrust website and on the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste website.  TAG

Coalition Comments on Rescission of Enforcement Principles

* Theodore A. Gebhard is an attorney and economist.  See his mini-bio on the Contributors page.