US Treasury Secretary criticizes Amazon
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that Amazon “destroyed the retail industry across the United States”.
In his opinion the attorney general should investigate the company alongside other tech giants in the sweeping antitrust review that the Justice Department announced on Tuesday, reports TheVerge.
Mnuchin said that “although there’s certain benefits to Amazon’s success, the company has really hurt small businesses in the process”.
The Justice Department announced that it would begin a review into whether major online platforms have “reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.” While Amazon was not mentioned by name, the assumption is that the DOJ will be looking at it alongside other tech giants, like Facebook and Google, that also vastly dominate their fields.
Amazon responded to Mnuchin’s remarks with a comment saying that its platform helps small businesses and that physical stores still dominate retail sales. “Small and medium-sized businesses are thriving with Amazon,” a spokesperson said. They said that Amazon represents “less than 4 percent of US retail,” and that 90 percent of retail sales “still occur in brick-and-mortar stores according to the US Census Bureau.”
More Amazon news
Amazon sues “get rich quick” FBA course sellers
Amazon sues coaches for selling deceptive courses of no valueAmazon started suing people and companies for selling courses on how to make money on Amazon.Amazon filed suit against Online Secrets, Prime Global Source, Michael Gazzola, Matthew Behdjou and...
Amazon Will Impose Stricter Storage Limits in January
Amazon Wants Sellers to Optimize Warehouse Space Amazon will impose stricter storage limits on sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon in January. The reason for the policy change is the company's push for faster delivery - specifically, transitioning Prime...
Paypal to enter Chinese market for online payments
PayPal is the first foreign company to win Chinese payments licensePayPal has become the first foreign company to acquire a payments licence in China, after buying a majority stake in GoPay. GoPay has licenses for online and mobile transactions, and...
