Amazon to meet with FTC in final push to avoid antitrust suit

Amazon will meet with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and the agency’s three other commissioners next week in a final push to avoid an antitrust lawsuit, according to people familiar with the matter.

The FTC, which has been investigating Amazon since 2019 over its online marketplace for third-party sellers, is finalizing a suit against the online retail giant.

A meeting between the company and the FTC’s commissioners is often one of the last steps before either suit is filed or a settlement is reached.

The Biden administration has stepped up antitrust enforcement, seeking to reverse what it has viewed as decades of lax oversight over corporate consolidation and market power.

Khan has long had Amazon in her sights – she wrote a seminal paper as a law student about rethinking antitrust laws due to the company’s dominance.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment. An FTC spokesman declined to comment.

The FTC, which has both antitrust and consumer protection mandates, has been investigating Amazon for potential anticompetitive conduct over several aspects of its business, including its marketplace, Prime subscription service and cloud computing.

The agency opened a new investigation into Amazon Prime in 2021 focused on whether the service violates consumer protection laws by making it difficult for customers to cancel.

Amazon has pushed the FTC to recuse Khan from its case, citing her academic work and prior statements about the company.

It has also accused the agency of harassing founder Jeff Bezos and Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy with document and interview requests.