Germany and Canada launch their own antitrust investigations into Amazon

guest · Aug 16, 2020

Amazon faces antitrust probe in Canada
August 14, 2020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/14/amazon-faces-antitrust-probe-in-canada.html

Canada’s Competition Bureau announced Friday it is launching an investigation into whether Amazon’s conduct on its marketplace has hurt consumers and companies that do business in the country.

The antitrust watchdog said its investigation is ongoing and “there is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time.” The bureau encouraged sellers and businesses to share information with investigators who are zeroing in on whether Amazon Canada is abusing its dominance in the market.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: “We are cooperating with the Competition Bureau’s review and continue to work hard to support small and medium sized businesses who sell in our Canadian store — and help them grow.”
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The bureau said it would examine any Amazon policies that may impact third-party sellers’ willingness to sell their products on competing online marketplaces or their own websites, as well as whether merchants can operate a successful business on the marketplace without using Amazon’s fulfillment or advertising services.
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Competition Bureau seeks input from market participants to inform an ongoing investigation of Amazon

The Bureau is examining whether Amazon is engaging in conduct on its Canadian marketplace, Amazon.ca, that is impacting competition to the detriment of consumers and companies that do business in Canada.
The Bureau is conducting its investigation under the restrictive trade practices provisions of the Competition Act, with a focus on potential abuse of dominance.
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guest · Aug 18, 2020

Germany and Canada launch their own antitrust investigations into Amazon
Amazon's troubles are piling up
August 18, 2020
https://www.techspot.com/news/86402...heir-own-antitrust-investigations-amazon.html

What just happened? Canada and Germany's antitrust watchdogs are the latest entities to focus their attention on Amazon's business practices, after the US and the EU started their sweeping antitrust probes into Big Tech's monopolistic behavior. German authorities are interested to see how Amazon treats third-party traders selling on its site and whether it uses their data to make its own competing products.

According to a Reuters report, Germany is also looking at accusations that the retail giant has been using predatory prices to corner the competition in profitable markets, especially since the country is Amazon's second biggest market after the US.
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Canada's Competition Bureau is similarly interested in how independent sellers are treated on Amazon's Marketplace, and is currently taking input from affected parties. Canadian authorities are also reviewing the retail giant's policies to determine if accusations that sellers are coerced into using the Fulfillment By Amazon program are true or not.
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guest · Oct 28, 2020

German Watchdog Launches New Investigation Into Amazon: Report
October 28, 2020
https://www.usnews.com/news/technol...launches-new-investigation-into-amazon-report

Germany's anti-trust authority has launched an investigation into Amazon and Apple over possible anticompetitive behaviour, German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily reported.

Amazon bans some third-party traders on its e-commerce platform from offering certain branded products, and Germany's Federal Cartel Office is investigating whether this complies with German law.

"For some brands all merchants with the exception of Amazon itself and the respective brand manufacturer are excluded," the paper quoted Cartel Office President Andreas Mundt as saying.
Amazon said that it is cooperating with the German authorities, adding it continuously invests to protect its store from illegitimate goods.
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The agreements could offer protection against product piracy. However, bans of third-party dealers must "comply with the principle of proportionality and must not lead to the elimination of competition," Mundt said.
The most prominent example is Amazon's cooperation with mobile phone maker Apple, which only Apple dealerships and Amazon can offer on the platform, he said.

The new probe into Amazon's treatment of third-party dealers comes after Germany's competition watchdog in August launched an investigation of whether and how Amazon influences traders' price-setting on its marketplace.
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