On March 27, the U.S. Department of Justice launched the Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force to advocate for the elimination of anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition and harm consumers, workers and businesses. 

“Realizing President Trump’s economic Golden Age will require unwinding burdensome regulations that stifle free market competition. This Antitrust Division will stand against harmful barriers to competition whether imposed by public regulators or private monopolists,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. “We look forward to working with the public and with other federal agencies to identify and eliminate anticompetitive laws and regulations.”

The DOJ’s release also states, “On Jan. 31, President Trump signed Executive Order 14192 declaring ‘the policy of the executive branch’ to be that federal agencies should ‘alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on the American people.’ Consistent with this policy, on Feb. 19, President Trump signed Executive Order 14219 directing agencies to ‘initiate a process to review all regulations’ and identify regulations that, among other things, ‘impose undue burdens on small businesses and impede private enterprise and entrepreneurship.’ Consistent with longstanding practice, the Antitrust Division will support federal agencies’ deregulatory initiatives by sharing its market expertise on regulations that pose the greatest barriers to economic growth.”

The task force is particularly interested in seeking input about laws and regulations that make it more difficult for businesses to compete effectively, especially in markets that have the greatest impact on American households, including:

• Housing: Americans spend more than one-third of their monthly income on housing, and the cost of owning or renting a home continues to rise. Laws and regulations in housing markets can contribute to these problems by making it more difficult for companies to build and ordinary Americans to rent or buy.
• Transportation: Laws and regulations in areas like airlines, rail and ocean shipping can grant antitrust immunities, outright monopolies or safe harbors for conduct that undermines competition. As a result, Americans pay more for travel, fuel and a variety of other products.
• Food and Agriculture: By the end of the Biden administration, grocery prices were 27% higher than at the end of the first Trump administration. Eliminating unnecessary anticompetitive regulations will help farmers, growers and ranchers increase the amount of food they produce and unlock lower prices for American consumers.
• Healthcare: Laws and regulations in healthcare markets too often discourage doctors and hospitals from providing low-cost, high-quality health care and instead encourage overbilling and consolidation. These kinds of unnecessary anticompetitive regulations put affordable health care out of reach for millions of American families.
• Energy: Reliable and affordable energy is essential to modern American life—whether in homes, businesses, manufacturing plants, schools, hospitals, sporting events or data centers. Laws and regulations can undermine reliability and affordability by protecting incumbent electricity providers from competition or disruptive innovation.

The task force invites public comments to identify laws and regulations that raise barriers to competition. Comments can be submitted at regulations.gov; the deadline is May 26. ABC will submit comments. 

To learn more, visit the Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force.