USA : President Biden convened the sixth meeting of the White House Competition Council to discuss new actions his Administration is taking to lower costs, promote innovation, and support workers by ending corporate rip-offs and other unfair practices that keep prices high. The President thanked Competition Council members for their work to date and called on them to continue to do more to lower costs for the American people.
The President also announced the launch of a new Strike Force to crack down on unfair and illegal pricing. This Strike Force will strengthen interagency efforts to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on American families through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission will co-chair the Strike Force and, along with other agencies on the Strike Force, will focus their collaborative efforts on key sectors where corporations may be violating the law and keeping prices high, including prescription drugs and health care, food and groceries, housing, financial services, and more.
In addition to the co-chairs, initial members of the Strike Force include the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Transportation. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be invited to join. Other agencies will be invited to consult with the Strike Force as needed. Strike Force members will work together to share information and data, explore ways to cooperate with state and local governments and other third-party actors, identify new resources in partnership with other federal agencies, and produce a biannual report highlighting the Strike Force’s priority areas.
At the meeting, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Rohit Chopra spoke about the CFPB’s efforts to crack down on banking junk fees, including a new final rule that will cut credit card late fees from an average of $32 to $8, saving Americans $10 billion—an average of $220 per year for the more than 45 million people who are charged these fees. A new blog from the Council of Economic Advisers finds that actions by the Biden-Harris Administration will save Americans more than $20 billion in hidden junk fees every year.
Members also discussed new actions to promote competition among internet providers and in agriculture markets. The Department of Agriculture finalized a rule to protect farmers and ranchers by cracking down on processing companies’ deceptive contracts, banning retaliatory practices that hurt small producers, and protecting producers from discrimination. The Federal Communications Commission circulated a proposed rule that would ban bulk billing arrangements by internet, cable, or satellite service providers.
The Council members used the rest of the meeting to discuss recent accomplishments and their priorities for the coming months.
Participants in yesterday’s meeting included:
Lael Brainard, National Economic Advisor & Chair of the White House Competition Council
Secretary Lloyd Austin, Department of Defense
Secretary Tom Vilsack, Department of Agriculture
Secretary Xavier Becerra, Department of Health and Human Services
Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative
Chair Jared Bernstein, Council of Economic Advisers
Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg, Department of Transportation
Director Rohit Chopra, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer, Department of Justice
Chair Lina Khan, Federal Trade Commission
Chair Jessica Rosenworcel, Federal Communications Commission
Chair Gary Gensler, Securities and Exchange Commission
Chair Daniel Maffei, Federal Maritime Commission
Chair Rostin Behnam, Commodity Future and Trading Commission
Chair Martin Oberman, Surface Transportation Board
Assistant Secretary for Policy Raj Nayak, Department of Labor
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice
Acting Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric van Nostrand, Department of Treasury
Administrator Richard Revesz, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
Director Nellie Abernathy, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, Department of Commerce
