Cicilline on European Charges that Amazon Abused its Dominance, Dual Role in the Market

Statement

This morning, the European Commission filed a statement of objections as part of its investigation into whether Amazon has abused its dominance online. The Commission noted that Amazon has abused its dual role as a platform as both a marketplace for independent sellers and a competitor in this marketplace through its use of "non-public marketplace seller data allows Amazon to avoid the normal risks of retail competition and to leverage its dominance in the market for the provision of marketplace services."

House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline (RI-01) issued the following statement in response to today's filing:

"As we found as part of a 16-month bipartisan investigation, Amazon has monopoly power over sellers on its platform. Because of its immense power, Amazon currently can get away with arbitrarily suspending sellers, increasing and changing seller fees overnight, and free riding off of entrepreneurs' investments and hard work by appropriating their ideas and competitively sensitive data. Sellers do not have recourse or a competitive alternative to Amazon's marketplace. They are stuck. I applaud the European Commission for thoroughly examining Amazon's dominance in this market, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission to do the same."

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