TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that the state has joined the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 16 other state attorneys general in filing an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com, Inc. The complaint accuses Amazon of employing a range of anticompetitive and unfair tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopoly power in online retail and related markets.
According to the complaint, Amazon’s actions go beyond simply being a dominant player in the market. It allegedly engages in exclusionary conduct that hampers existing competitors and deters new ones from entering the market. The conduct stifles competition on price, product quality, and selection, affecting hundreds of billions of dollars in retail sales annually and impacting hundreds of thousands of sellers and over a hundred million shoppers.
Attorney General Platkin stated that the lawsuit aims to promote fair competition and consumer choice by challenging Amazon’s alleged monopoly. FTC Chair Lina M. Khan and John Newman, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing how the lawsuit seeks to restore free and fair competition and hold Amazon accountable for its alleged practices.
The complaint specifies various anticompetitive measures adopted by Amazon, including anti-discounting policies that prevent other retailers from offering lower prices, and requiring sellers to use Amazon’s costly fulfillment service for “Prime” eligibility. These measures allegedly make it substantially more expensive for sellers to operate on other platforms, further entrenching Amazon’s monopoly.
The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction that would prohibit Amazon from continuing its alleged anticompetitive conduct and aims to restore competition in the market.
New Jersey is joined by Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin in the multi-state effort. The FTC vote to authorize the filing was unanimous.