WASHINGTON: Amazon.com Inc. passed a bill in Congress on Wednesday barring tech giants from giving preference to their own businesses over their websites, saying it unfairly singles out the retailer, while subjecting rivals to similar rules. does not do.
The Senate could vote on the bill as early as this month, media outlets have reported. Despite heavy lobbying from top executives such as Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, the measure passed the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. It also passed the House Judiciary Committee last year.
Amazon said in a blog post https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/antitrust-legislation-and-the-unintended-negative-consequences-for-american-consumers-and-small-businesses That bill “jeopardizes two things that American consumers love most about Amazon: the vast selection and low prices made possible by opening our stores to third-party sales partners, and faster through Amazon Prime.” Free shipping promised.
It argued that the bill targets only one retailer, Amazon, which requires a market value of at least $550 billion to qualify for regulation and excluded rivals such as Walmart, Target and CVS. was.
“In 2021, Walmart had annual revenue of $559 billion, nearly $90 billion more than Amazon,” it added. “But Walmart is excluded despite being a large retailer that allows small businesses to sell in its online marketplace.”
Senators Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley, who co-sponsored the measure called the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, say the measure is necessary to protect small businesses. The bill was approved by the Main Street Alliance and Small . Has received support from small business groups such as Business Emerging.
Amazon argued that the bill could harm the hundreds of thousands of small businesses that sell goods on its website because its hefty fines for infringement “would make it difficult to justify the risk of Amazon offering a marketplace in which sales partners can participate.” “
It said the bill would “allow Amazon to allow other logistics providers to fulfill Prime orders” and could make it “practically impossible for Amazon and our sales partners to offer products with Prime’s” free two-day shipping. Doing.
Under pressure from Congress, large tech firms, including Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Apple, have been accused of abusing their external market power. A long list of bills have been proposed to rein in them, but none have become law.
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