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
Record-breaking congestion in California ports
No quick fix for the shipping crisis 44 freight ships are stuck awaiting entry into California's two largest ports. This is the largest congestion since the beginning of the pandemic. The queue is a result of the labor shortage, COVID-19-related disruptions, and...
E-commerce is too reliant on social media
Consumers don’t buy on social media, new survey indicates E-commerce entrepreneurs are relying heavily on social media to drive sales, but consumers don’t shop there very often A new survey said consumers don’t buy on social media, despite the fact that small...
Amazon continues to ban Chinese sellers
50000 Chinese seller accounts have disappeared from Amazon More than 50000 Chinese seller accounts have been banned on Amazon due to pay-for-praise and other policy violations In May Amazon shuttered some of its largest sellers from China over violations of platform...
