Chile Goes After Walmart Over Allegations It Abused Market Dominance

An association of Chilean food suppliers has sued the local unit of US retail giant Walmart, alleging that the store owner abused its dominant position in the market to impose contracts on providers and set arbitrary prices, reported Reuters.

The suit, dated October 22, but recently uploaded on the website of Chile’s antitrust court, states that the AGIP supplier union had made the allegations against Walmart, which operates Líder, Acuenta, and Central Mayorista markets in Chile.

Walmart “exploited in an abusive manner its dominant position in the supermarket supply market, by imposing on its suppliers the contracting of certain services and establishing arbitrary values associated with them,” the lawsuit claims.

Walmart Chile said in a statement sent to Reuters on Thursday that it had not been informed of the lawsuit, adding it was always concerned about forging a “virtuous and long-term relationship” with suppliers.

“We believe that relations with our suppliers should be governed by the principles of respect for free competition, for which we work to establish transparent objectives, terms and conditions known in advance by both parties,” it added.

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