In what will likely be the opening salvo of the Biden-era antitrust debate, US Senator Amy Klobuchar will introduce new legislation later today to update the country’s antitrust laws. While we don’t yet have all the details of the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2021, an important point is that it would better equip regulatory authorities to deal with their Big Tech counterparts.
Let’s be clear: we have a monopoly problem. But we cannot handle the largest companies in the world with just plasters and duct tape. We need legislation that will increase enforcement resources and tighten our antitrust laws – so I’m introducing a new bill that will do just that. https://t.co/9GFb9TTHaH
– Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) February 4, 2021
According to ProtocolCalls on Klobuchar to provide the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission with new regulatory powers and millions of dollars in additional funding to prosecute anti-competitive behavior. The legislation would also give them the power to impose heavier fines on violating companies, with the legislation allowing for fines of up to 15 percent of a company’s total US revenue.
“Let’s be clear: we have a monopoly problem. But we can’t handle the world’s largest companies with just plasters and duct tape, ”said Klobuchar Twitter. “We need legislation that will increase enforcement resources and tighten our antitrust laws, so I’m introducing a new bill that will do just that.”
What you don’t see in the bill is an appeal to Congress to take apart one of the big players in space. In this regard, Klobuchar’s approach differs from some of her more progressive counterparts in the House and Senate, and that may help the bill gain bipartisan support. When Democrats in the House antitrust subcommittee published their findings last fall, most Republicans said they could not agree with any of the recommendations, calling a possible break from Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google the “ nuclear option’.