Please try another search
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden signs an executive order on "promoting competition in the American economy" as members of his Cabinet standby during an event in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington U.S., July 9, 2021. REUTERS/Evely
2/2
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is set to hold the second meeting of its Competition Council on Monday, federal agencies said on Sunday.
Officials from two federal agencies told Reuters about the meeting and that their departments planned to attend. The White House did not confirm the meeting would take place but said President Joe Biden would meet on Monday "with members of his administration on efforts to lower prices for working families."
Biden signed in July a sweeping executive order to promote more competition in the U.S. economy, asking agencies to crack down on anti-competitive practices in sectors from agriculture to drugs and labor. That order created the council, which held its first meeting in September.
The order in July instructed antitrust agencies to focus on labor, healthcare, technology and agriculture. The White House has said the "lack of competition drives up prices for consumers and drives down wages for workers."
The council is chaired by the head of the White House National Economic Council and includes a number of cabinet agencies including the Justice, Transportation, Commerce and Agriculture departments as well as the chairs of the Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Communications Commission.
The Biden administration has taken steps to promote competition in many sectors, including the U.S. meat industry.
The Justice Department in September sought to unwind an alliance between American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) and JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) Corp.
And last week, U.S. antitrust enforcers announced plans to rewrite merger guidelines in order to better fight illegal deals.
The Justice Department and FTC said U.S. industries had become increasingly concentrated and a surge in merger filings in 2020 and 2021 signaled the situation will worsen.
The second council meeting would also come as Congress scrutinizes technology companies. Last week, a Senate committee approved a bill that would bar tech giants like Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) from giving preference to their own businesses on their websites.
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.