In what will likely be the opening salvo in the Biden-era antitrust debate, US Senator Amy Klobuchar will present new legislation today to update the country’s antitrust laws. While we do not yet have all the details of the 2021 Competition and Antitrust Enforcement Reform Act, a significant point is that it would better equip regulatory authorities to face their Big Tech counterparts.
Let’s be clear: we have a monopoly problem. But we can’t face the biggest companies in the world with just band-aids and duct tape. We need legislation that increases enforcement resources and restricts 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 Protocol, Klobuchar asks the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to receive 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 more significant fines on offending companies, with the legislation allowing penalties of up to 15% of the company’s total revenue in the United States.
“Let’s be clear: we have a monopoly problem. But we cannot face the biggest companies in the world with just band-aids and tape, ”said Klobuchar on Twitter. “We need legislation that increases enforcement resources and toughens up our antitrust laws – so I’m introducing a new bill that will do just that.”
What you will not see in the bill is an appeal to Congress to separate any of the main players in the sector. In that sense, Klobuchar’s approach differs from some of his more progressive colleagues in the House and Senate, and this may help the bill to garner bipartisan support. When Democrats on the House’s antitrust subcommittee published their findings last fall, most Republicans said they could not agree with any of their recommendations, calling a possible split from Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google a “nuclear option”.