White House meets small and mid-sized firms to discuss competition in tech sector

Altex Industries

20/01/2022 01:16

By Nandita Bose
    Jan 19 (Reuters) - White House officials met on Wednesday
with small and mid-sized companies to discuss competition issues
in the tech sector, as momentum grows in the U.S. Congress to
rein in large technology companies.
    The meeting was attended by Bruce Reed, president Joe
Biden’s top tech advisor and deputy chief of staff; Brian Deese,
director of the National Economic Council and executives of
smaller tech firms such as Sonos and Yelp Inc, the White House
said.
    "The meeting focused on the challenges entrepreneurs,
brick-and-mortar retailers, and other businesses face competing
in sectors dominated by a few large platforms," the White House
said in a statement.
    Concerns discussed at the meeting included fees charged by
large technology companies, how large tech firms operate an
online marketplace for third-party sellers and also sell their
own products on such platforms, and how businesses are ranked on
those platforms.
    Last year President Joe Biden signed an executive order to
promote more competition in the U.S. economy, urging agencies to
crack down on anti-competitive practices in sectors from
agriculture to drugs and labor. He has since taken several steps
to promote competition in the U.S. meat industry.
    The meeting to discuss competition issues in the tech sector
occurred ahead of a vote in the U.S. Senate on Thursday where
the Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up a bipartisan bill
from Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Republican Chuck
Grassley that would bar companies such as Amazon  AMZN.O  and
Alphabet’s Google  GOOGL.O  from favoring their products and
services.

 (Reporting by Nandita Bose in Mumbai; editing by Grant McCool)
 ((nandita.bose@thomsonreuters.com; +12023545868; Reuters
Messaging: nandita.bose.reuters.com@reuters.net))