Joe Biden to announce actions to increase competition in the US economy

US President Joe Biden will announce new actions by his administration to strengthen economic competition in a meeting with his Competition Council on 19 July.

On Wednesday, the White House proposed new guidelines for corporate mergers, took steps to disclose the junk fees charged by landlords and launched a crackdown on price-gouging in the food industry. These will all be discussed as part of the president’s scheduled meeting with the Competition Council, a group of officials established under a 2021 executive order.

The council has focused on creating more transparency for consumers and finding ways to limit the concentration of industries in ways that the Biden administration says lead to higher prices and hurt the ability of start-ups and small businesses to grow. Republican lawmakers and some business group critics counter that the Democratic president’s effort will lead to greater regulatory costs that leave the economy worse off.

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are proposing revised guidelines for how they evaluate mergers.