Clifford Chance

President Biden Issues Executive Order on Promoting Competition: Invoking the Spirit of the Roosevelts' Trustbusting as the Future of U.S. Antitrust Policy

July 12, 2021

On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy, a sweeping statement on his administration's focus on antitrust enforcement. The White House's statement on the Order invokes the legacies of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who "took bold action" in the face of "threats of growing corporate power." The tone of the Order indicates support for a more progressive antitrust policy, stating that "excessive market concentration threatens basic economic liberties, democratic accountability, and the welfare of workers, farmers, small businesses, startups, and consumers." The protests against the danger of excessive market concentration are a familiar refrain now, but this Order cements President Biden's stance on the future of U.S. antitrust policy, likely leading to increased merger scrutiny (including previously consummated mergers) affecting particular market sectors and the implementation of new federal agency rules impacting competition.

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