President Biden will sign a sweeping executive order on Friday, aimed at promoting competition in the economy through 72 initiatives cracking down on anti-competitive practices in multiple industries.
The order aims to bolster competition and make broadband services affordable, encourage innovation and competition among tech companies, address prescription drug pricing, allow hearing aids to be sold over the counter at drug stores, ban or limit noncompete agreements for workers, and make it easier for people to get refunds from airlines, among other provisions.
In a fact sheet released by the White House Friday morning, the Biden administration said that anti-competitive practices across industries have driven up prices, made it harder for employees to bargain for a better wage and stunted economic growth.
The executive order will direct over a dozen federal agencies to implement these 72 initiatives to promote competition in the U.S.
The president has laid out a plan to promote competition in the health care sector, including directing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to work with states on importing prescription drugs from Canada, and direct officials to develop a “comprehensive plan” to lower drug prices in 45 days.
In addition Biden will direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to evaluate hospital mergers that could be harmful to patient care, especially in rural communities.
Under rules for “Big Tech” companies, Biden wants greater condemnation for mergers between technology companies “especially by dominant internet platforms, with particular attention to the acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by ‘free’ products, and the effect on user privacy.”
The president has also indicated he wants to crack down on companies gathering personal information, and will direct the FTC to create rules on surveillance and data acquisition.
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Biden to sign executive order on anti-competitive practices in tech, business, agriculture https://t.co/rpq0awfqhy pic.twitter.com/n9BbxTX2yq
— The Hill (@thehill) July 9, 2021
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