Presidential decree could have a wide impact – Company law / commercial law

On Friday, the president signed a Executive Decree aimed at promoting competition in the US economy. here is Fact sheet. The ordinance, which, in addition to the consolidation of companies, concerns the obstacles to competition and the impact on the workforce and consumers of the lack of competition, includes “72 initiatives of more than a dozen d federal agencies to quickly tackle some of the most pressing competition. problems throughout our economy. The Order is aimed specifically at several sectors, such as technology, financial services, telecommunications, agriculture, transportation and shipping, as well as pharmacy and health. The decree could also have a significant impact on a number of other industries, for example by seeking to restrict the use of “non-competition and other clauses or agreements that may unfairly limit the mobility of workers” or efforts to prevent “manufacturers from prohibiting self-repairs or third-party repairs of their products.” For the most part, the Order is not changing the law or even any regulations at this point, and some of the identified agencies, such as the FTC, are independent and not subject to Presidential directives. Congress and the courts are also likely to have their say. Nonetheless, companies may want to assess whether the initiatives and the change in regulatory focus may have an impact on their business that could warrant disclosure.

The Order establishes a White House Competition Council to implement actions and coordinate the many federal agencies and directs heads of all agencies to “consider using their powers to advance policies” set out in the Order. Order. The ordinance also identifies a number of laws, in addition to traditional antitrust laws, which provide for industry-specific fair competition and anti-monopoly laws. The SEC, another independent agency, is identified as one of the agencies that administer these or similar authorities, but it remains to be seen precisely how the SEC will be involved in promoting the ordinance.

As stated in the Information Sheet, with regard to pharmaceutical companies, in the Ordinance, the President:

• “Calls on the Food and Drug Administration to work with states and tribes to safely import prescription drugs from Canada, in accordance with the Medicare Modernization Act 2003.”
• Orders the Health and Human Services Administration (HHS) to increase support for generic and biosimilar drugs, which provide low-cost options to patients.
• Orders HHS to release comprehensive 45-day plan to tackle high prescription drug prices and price hikes.
• Encourages the FTC to ban “pay for delays” and similar agreements by rule. “

(“Late payment agreements” are described as transactions in which “brand name drug makers pay generic manufacturers to stay out of the market.”) The ordinance also encourages the Attorney General and Secretary of Commerce “to consider whether to revise their position on the intersection of intellectual property laws and antitrust laws”, to “avoid the potential for anticompetitive extension of market power beyond the scope of granted patents, and to protect standardization processes against abuse ”.

In the field of technology, according to the Information Sheet, among others, the Order

• “Announces an administration policy of increased merger control, especially by dominant Internet platforms, with particular attention to the acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, data accumulation, competition from “free” products and to the effect on user privacy. “
• “Encourages the FTC to establish rules on monitoring and data accumulation.”
• “Encourages the FTC to establish rules prohibiting unfair competitive methods in Internet markets. “
• “Encourages the FTC to enact rules against anti-competitive restrictions on the use of independent repair shops or DIY repairs to your own devices and equipment.” “

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