US: Antitrust nominee addresses antitrust enforcement abroad

Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the antitrust division of the Department of Justice, spoke Wednesday about the need to change how antitrust laws are enforced abroad.

In an abbreviated confirmation hearing shared with two other Justice Department nominees, Delrahim pointed to his prior experience heading up international antitrust applications in the department during the George W. Bush administration. Asked by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who chairs a subcommittee on antitrust issues, what he would do differently in his role, Delrahim said he would focus on stopping US companies operating abroad from being treated unfairly.

That approach could benefit companies like Apple and Google, which the European Union is targeting for what it calls anti-competitive behavior.

Delrahim has the support of some former Obama administration officials.

“What we have seen is that there are certain foreign competition authorities that are using the antitrust laws to advance protectionist agendas and policies,” said Jim Tierney, former chief of the DOJ’s Networks and Technology Enforcement Section. “That’s a misuse of the antitrust laws, especially where they use the merger context to force companies to give up intellectual property rights.”

Full Content: Morning Consult

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