Washington – A dozen organizations have penned a joint letter to lawmakers Wednesday to express concerns over the economic harms that proposed antitrust legislation will have on American consumers and businesses of all sizes. The broad, diverse, and bipartisan array of signatories includes the Council and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, TechNet, the Small Business Entrepreneurship Council, U.S. Hispanic Business Council, NetChoice, Consumer Technology Association, Software & Information Industry Association, Connected Commerce Council, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Schumpeter Project, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, Americans for Prosperity, and National Taxpayers Union.
The widespread concern comes after an economic study by National Economic Research Associates (NERA) revealed the antitrust bills – S. 2992, H.R. 3816, H.R. 3825, and H.R. 3826 – would cost the U.S. economy up to $319 billion. These costs would be borne by consumers and business users of the targeted companies in the form of higher retail costs and loss of valued services. The study concludes that there are “no quantifiable benefits from the bills for consumers or small businesses.”
“The antitrust bills will cause economy-wide harm beyond just tech. The antitrust bills are messaged as just targeting Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, but the NERA analysis reveals that the use of simplistic language that relies on market capitalization means that more American companies would be captured in just a few years: 13 additional companies in the next 5 to 10 years and likely over 100 companies by the 2030s,” reads the joint letter.
“We urge lawmakers to fully consider the above harmful effect of this legislation, and to oppose regulations that would harm consumers, undermine American innovation, and damage the U.S. economy.”