Sen. Kohl, Sen. Hatch and Antitrust Subcommittee Cong. Conyers, Cong. Chabot and the Antitrust Taskforce
We are writing to express our support for legislation that would authorize the Antitrust Division ofthe Department of Justice to conduct international antitrust and competition policy technical assistance to foreign jurisdictions.
In its 2007 report, the non-partisan Antitrust Modernization Commission,created by Congress to make recommendations to modernize our current antitrust laws and practices, recommended that Congress “should provide budgetary authority, as well as appropriations, directly to the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice to provide international antitrust technical assistance.” The sentiment has no opposition of which we are aware.
Both agencies have been providing technical assistance and training to emerging foreign jurisdictions for more than a decade. The extremely limited monies to support such work have been provided to date by USAID, which also has a determinative role in which countries receive support. USAID’s efforts should be applauded, but as an organization USAID is not an antitrust agency and does not have the expertise to best decide how to allocate funds based on the antitrust needs and priorities of recipient countries. As a result, too few funds are dedicated to antitrust assistance, and those that are expended often are directed at countries that are not a priority from an antitrust development perspective.
As members of the academic community, we have seen the power effective antitrust technical assistance can play to develop open and competitive markets around the world.Moreover, technical assistance to foreign competition authorities promises benefits to American consumers. Time and again, long-term engagement wins out over the current U.S. piecemeal approach, which results from the current U.S. institutional set-up of who controls the money in antitrust technical assistance. This kind of strategic approach and focus on key jurisdictions can only come from a direct authorization and supporting appropriation granted to both U.S. antitrust agencies.
We commend the important work of your colleagues in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in introducing legislation to provide both authorization and funding to the Federal Trade Commission. The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice needs similar authority. We encourage your Committee to provide similar authorization and funding to the Antitrust Division, so the two agencies can work in tandem to address the pressing need to ensure the development and application of consistent antitrust and competition policy around the world. Given that half of the world’s antitrust agencies are 15 years old or less, a number of these agencies lack the expertise to be effective in their task to improve the lives of consumers. Consistency in antitrust, based on transparent and economically reasoned decision-making, is vitally important for a well functioning market.
We thank you in advance for your support on this important issue.