Senator Klobuchar Introduces Sweeping Bill to Promote Competition and Improve Antitrust Enforcement

Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced sweeping new legislation to reinvigorate America’s antitrust laws and restore competition to American markets. The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act will:

1. Increase Enforcement Resources. Increases budget to Dept of Justice's Antitrust Division and Federal Tade Commission.
2. Strengthen Prohibitions Against Anticompetitive Mergers. The bill would restore the original intent of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which was designed to stop anticompetitive mergers in order to address competitive problems in their “incipiency” before they ripened and caused harm. The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act will:
   • Update the legal standard for permissible mergers. The bill amends the Clayton Act to forbid mergers that “create an appreciable risk of materially lessening competition” rather than mergers that “substantially lessen competition,” where “materially” is defined as “more than a de minimus amount.” The bill also clarifies that mergers that create a monopsony (the power to unfairly lower the prices a company it pays or wages it offers because of lack of competition among buyers or employers) violate the statute.
   • Shift the burden to the merging parties to prove their merger will not violate the law. These categories include:
     • Mergers that significantly increase market concentration
     • Acquisitions of competitors or nascent competitors by a dominant firm (defined a 50% market share or possession of significant market power)
     • Mega-mergers valued at more than $5 billion
3. Prevent Harmful Dominant Firm Conduct.
4. The legislation would establish a new, independent FTC division to conduct market studies and merger retrospectives.
5. Implement Additional Reforms to Enhance Antitrust Enforcement

The Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act will also implement a series of reforms to seek civil fines for antitrust violations, study the effect of past mergers, strengthen whistleblower protections, and more.