Judge Rules FTC Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon Can Proceed

A judge unsealed a Sept. 30 ruling that the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust lawsuit against Amazon can proceed, while the claims of some states were dismissed.

Amazon asked U.S. District Judge John Chun to dismiss the case in December 2023, but Chun said in the ruling he unsealed Monday (Oct. 7) that it is too early in the case to consider Amazon’s claims, Reuters reported Monday.

The FTC’s case alleges that Amazon used an algorithm that pushed up the prices paid by U.S. households and used anti-competitive tactics, according to the report.

Amazon said that it stopped using the program in 2019 and that the FTC showed no evidence that it had harmed consumers, per the report.

In his Sept. 30 ruling, Chun said that it is too early in the case for him to consider the company’s claims that its actions benefited competition, according to the report.

Chun also dismissed claims brought by the attorneys general of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Oklahoma, per the report.

The claims that were dismissed were based on state consumer protection laws, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Chun added in the ruling that a 2026 trial will focus on whether Amazon’s conduct violates the law, and another, later proceeding, if needed, will consider remedies, according to the report.

The FTC and 17 states filed the antitrust lawsuit in September 2023, accusing Amazon of “anti-discounting measures” that punish sellers and keep other online retailers from offering prices lower than Amazon, and of making sellers’ ability to get “Prime” eligibility for their products conditional on sellers using Amazon’s fulfillment service.

“The complaint alleges that Amazon violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging,” the FTC said in a Sept. 26, 2023, press release.

In a statement emailed to PYMNTS at the time, David Zapolsky, Amazon senior vice president of global public policy and general counsel, said: “The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”