The law also seeks to establish processes that will empower antitrust officials to break up problematic deals that have damaged competition in the past.
Two US senators have presented legislation to prohibit mergers and acquisitions valued at more than $5 billion, a move that is expected to have the greatest impact on the technology industry.
Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Mondaire Jones submitted bipartisan legislation to combat rampant industry consolidation, which allows firms to hike consumer prices and abuse workers.
The “Prohibiting Anticompetitive Mergers Act” (PAMA) would prohibit the largest, most anticompetitive mergers and give the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) the authority to reject deals in the first instance without the need for a court order and to break up harmful mergers.
It would specifically make “prohibited mergers” illegal, including ones valued at more than $5 billion or those resulting in market shares greater than 33 percent for sellers or 25 percent for employers.
For the first time, Warren stated that the PAMA act would require the FTC and DOJ to assess how a merger would affect employees and reject mergers that would hurt them. It would provide the agencies the authority to reject transactions that would worsen corporate dominance in labor markets and to halt transactions that would weaken collective bargaining agreements, cut employee benefits and compensation, or result in layoffs.
The bill would also establish processes for antitrust regulators to conduct retrospective reviews and dismantle problematic deals that have damaged competition.
“For the previous five decades, huge corporations have had nearly free rein over our economy, squashing competitors, getting bigger and bigger, and abusing their market dominance to price gouge consumers and crush employees and small businesses,” Warren said.
“This unconstitutional behavior must cease.” My new bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Jones, will restore our country’s anti-monopoly legacy by prohibiting the largest, most anticompetitive mergers and providing the DOJ and FTC with additional resources to enforce our antitrust laws and restore true competition in our markets.”
