The Local Business Institute has long joined with our national allies in working to protect the interests of small business across the nation. We are members of Small Business Rising and support the work of the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) in their continued policy work. We join them now in reigning in Amazon’s monopoly by asking you to consider lending your voice to this effort.
We’ve seen Amazon use their influence to skirt accountability before. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity — we must show our support for this lawsuit and trial to discourage the Federal Trade Commission and states from backing down — either through settlement or dropping the case. Don’t let Amazon get away with a slap on the wrist.
We invite independent business owners and small businesses associations to join hundreds of companies and organizations across the country to sign-on to our letter to make your voice heard.
A Bit of Background
In April 2021, a coalition of independent business associations across the country joined together to advocate against monopoly power harming small businesses and launched the Small Business Rising Coalition, which has grown to represent over 300,000 small businesses.
The coalition formed with the organizing support of ILSR, which has long called for policymakers to address the leading perpetrators of corporate concentration — like Amazon and Walmart.
While Congress has failed to pass meaningful legislation to address Amazon’s power, our coalition partners have continued to call for action. In September 2023, the FTC and 17 states announced a lawsuit targeting Amazon’s antitrust violations and harms to small business sellers on its platform.
This is the most significant challenge to Amazon’s dominance in our economy to date. Currently, the trial is set to begin in March 2027.
Examples of Amazon’s alleged harms to small businesses cited in the lawsuit:
- Compelling sellers to use its fulfillment service
- Punishing sellers that offer lower prices on other sites
- Using algorithms to keep prices high
Take Action
Sign the letter urging enforcers to take Amazon to trial and not to allow the company to get away with just a slap on the wrist.
