Retail Group Calls Out 'Anticompetitive' Amazon, Google in Letter to FTC

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, which represents 200 retailers including Walmart and Target, offered to help the FTC in antitrust probes targeting Big Tech.
By Annie Gaus ,

With antitrust investigations of Big Tech in the works, a trade group representing major retailers such as Walmart (WMT) - Get Report , Target (TGT) - Get Report and Walgreens (WBA) - Get Report is offering to lend a hand. 

In a 10-page letter to the FTC, the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), which represents about 200 retailers, urged the regulator to take action on what they consider the anti-competitive and monopolistic behavior of tech giants. 

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FTC are developing a sweeping antitrust probe looking into whether Apple (AAPL) - Get Report , Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report , Facebook (FB) - Get Report and Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Report  harm competition and consumers with their respective marketplaces, among other practices. 

The RILA letter specifically called out Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook and made the case that their platforms have been negative for consumers as well. Apple itself is a member of RILA. 

"The pro-consumer story for platforms like Google, Facebook and Amazon is that, while the companies wield enormous power on the 'seller' or 'advertising' side of their platforms, consumers benefit with free or very low-cost products or services on the other. But it is worth observing how the quality of these products and services have degraded as these companies have shifted from fierce competitors to dominant monopolists," RILA COO Brian Dodge write in  the letter.

The group closed the letter by offering to help the FTC in reviewing antitrust complaints in light of modern retail practices. 

Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS member club. Want to be alerted before Jim Cramer buys or sells these stocks? Learn more now.

Save 57% with our July 4th Sale. Join Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS investment club to become a smarter investor! Click here to sign up!

Loading ...