Main Street Competition Coalition Urges Presidential Candidates to Support Strong Antitrust Policies to Counter Economic Discrimination

September 25, 2024

Washington D.C. - On the heels of major antitrust enforcement momentum by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Main Street Competition Coalition (MSCC) sent letters to the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump urging each candidate to support an economic policy agenda that strengthens antitrust laws and puts an end to anticompetitive economic discrimination against small and medium sized businesses.

The MSCC is a coalition of main street businesses and agriculture producers that are committed to promoting competition and strengthening antitrust policies, especially reviving enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA). The RPA is a 90-year-old law that prohibits price discrimination, but has been ignored by antitrust enforcers for decades allowing bad actors to get away with undermining their competitors and consumers.

"For nearly 40 years, Robinson-Power enforcement was abandoned, allowing monopolist firms to leverage their economic power to insulate themselves from competition," commented the National Grocers Association's Chief Government Relations Officer and Counsel Chris Jones. "Industry consolidation and lax antitrust enforcement has decimated Main Street and left millions of American consumers with fewer options and higher prices. If either candidate wants to help the financial wellbeing of American families and entrepreneurs, they will commit to supporting an economic agenda that strengthens and enforces the antitrust laws that are designed to allow businesses of all sizes to compete fairly," said Jones.

"Fortunately, the FTC is finally taking this bad behavior seriously and is reportedly moving closer towards enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act," the letter states. "Just the threat of enforcement is beginning to have a positive impact for some MSCC members…[and] the FTC's historic lawsuit to address the anticompetitive behaviors of pharmacy benefit managers is a critical first step to restoring competition to the pharmacy marketplace… But this progress is not enough - bold and aggressive antitrust enforcement is needed to enhance competition across all industries."

"In the case of PBMs, abuses of market power have tilted the playing field to their own affiliated pharmacies, while drug prices are skyrocketing for patients," said Matt Seiler, General Counsel of the National Community Pharmacists Association. "The good news is we already have antitrust laws that are meant to put a check on abuses of economic power. We're just asking each candidate to commit to enforcing our existing antitrust laws to support competition, small businesses who are ready to compete, and the local economies they help fuel," he concluded.

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Additional Media Resources

Letter to former President Donald Trump

Letter Vice President Kamala Harris

About MSCC

The Main Street Competition Coalition (MSCC) is a coalition of main street businesses and agriculture producers that are committed to promoting competition and reviving and reforming the Robinson-Patman Act, a law that prohibits economic discrimination. MSCC advocates for antitrust policies - many that are already on the books - to ensure a level playing field for the benefit of both business and consumers.