Donald Trump is predicted to ease some of the antitrust measures implemented during President Joe Biden’s administration. This may involve reconsidering a move to split up Alphabet’s Google due to its strong presence in online search, according to experts.
While Trump is anticipated to push forward with legal actions against Big Tech, some of which were initiated during his first term, his recent doubts about breaking up Google demonstrate the influence he will have on the way these cases are handled.
At an event in Chicago in October, he questioned the potential impact of such a breakup on the company, suggesting that there could be ways to ensure fairness without resorting to divestiture. The Department of Justice is currently investigating two antitrust cases involving Google – one related to search and the other concerning advertising technology.
Additionally, the Department of Justice has initiated a case against Apple (AAPL.O) for opening a new tab. The United States The Federal Trade Commission has filed lawsuits against Meta Platforms (META.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O).
The Department of Justice has proposed various solutions for the search case, such as requiring Google to sell off certain parts of its business like the Chrome Web browser and terminating agreements that designate it as the default search engine on devices like Apple’s (AAPL.O) iPhone. However, the trial for these remedies is scheduled for April 2025, with a final decision expected in August.
That provides Trump and the DOJ with an opportunity to alter their approach, as per William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University. “He has the authority to influence the DOJ’s handling of the remedies phase,” noted Kovacic, who previously headed the Federal Trade Commission during the presidency of George W. Bush. Bush.
Trump might scale back certain policies that have frustrated dealmakers during the Biden administration, according to attorneys. One common practice in the past was for merging companies to settle in order to address competition concerns raised by agencies. This involved taking actions such as selling part of the business to resolve issues. Jon Dubrow, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery, predicts that the FTC and DOJ will likely eliminate merger review guidelines established during the Biden administration.
According to Dubrow, the 2023 merger guidelines were particularly unfavorable towards mergers and acquisitions, a sentiment shared widely on Wall Street. Additionally, the FTC’s restriction on most noncompete clauses in employer-employee contracts may face a higher risk of legal challenges from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when the FTC decides not to defend it.
About 30 million individuals, which is 20% of the U.S. population, … Employees, according to the FTC, have signed non-compete agreements. The organization is presently challenging a court decision that halted the regulation. However, efforts to undo the efforts of FTC Chair Lina Khan will rely on a replacement appointed by Trump being approved to shift the commission’s balance towards a Republican majority.
Khan’s efforts centered on addressing societal issues resulting from unregulated corporate mergers, receiving support from Democrats and certain Republicans, like Vice President-elect JD Vance. However, certain individuals in the business and legal sectors have raised concerns about her approach being overly assertive.
Trump is not anticipated to significantly reduce antitrust enforcement, though. An analysis by the Sheppard Mullin law firm found that a comparable amount of merger cases were filed during his initial term as in the first two years of the Biden administration.
