WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of tomorrow’s markup in the House Committee on the Judiciary, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) issued the below statement on the bipartisan legislation to hold dominant e-commerce platforms like Amazon accountable: “We applaud the bipartisan work of the Antitrust Subcommittee and urge members on both sides of the aisle to

WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of tomorrow’s markup in the House Committee on the Judiciary, the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) issued the below statement on the bipartisan legislation to hold dominant e-commerce platforms like Amazon accountable:

“We applaud the bipartisan work of the Antitrust Subcommittee and urge members on both sides of the aisle to work together to hold unregulated monopolies accountable. For many small- and medium-sized businesses, Amazon is the only game in town. The legislation before the committee addresses unfair acts by dominant platforms like Amazon that ultimately harm consumers and millions of third-party sellers and small businesses,” said Blake Adami, NAW Vice President of Government Relations.

Why support the House Judiciary legislation to hold e-commerce platforms accountable? 

• Dominant platforms reap enormous and unfair advantages by using third-party sellers’ proprietary information (such as products sold and prices, quantities, and customer identities) to develop and sell the platform’s own products.
• The Antitrust Subcommittee found that by owning and managing the platform, including setting its rules and prices, Amazon plays both sides by selling its own products in direct competition against third-party sellers who sell on Amazon’s B2B marketplace.
• The legislation prohibits discriminatory conduct by dominant platforms, including banning self-preferencing and picking winners and losers in the digital marketplace.
• Dominant marketplace control and abuse is causing real harm to the highly competitive B2B system. Among the important provisions is prohibiting the dominant platform from using seller data and engaging in conflicts of interest. The bills seek to restore fair competition to the Business-to-Business (B2B) market, where many NAW members compete.

Background

• Last week, NAW applauded the bipartisan work of Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Cicilline, Ranking Member Buck, Members of the Judiciary Committee, and staff to promote free and fair competition.
• In March, NAW supported President Biden’s nomination of FTC Chair Lina Khan to the commission.
• In February, NAW sent a letter to Judiciary Subcommittee Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Chairman David Cicilline and Ranking Member Ken Buck highlighting Amazon’s monopolistic treatment of third-party sellers.
• Also in February, NAW sent letters urging further congressional and administrative oversight of GSA’s pilot e-Commerce Portal program which gives Amazon monopoly power in government procurement.

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