US price-fixing prosecutions at historic low for third straight year

Trump administration brings fewer criminal antitrust cases than any government in 50 years

Criminal prosecutions for pricefixing under Donald Trump have remained at historic lows for a third consecutive year, a drop-off in enforcement against big business cartels not seen since the 1970s.

The Department of Justice announced 25 new cases alleging criminal violations of US antitrust laws in fiscal year 2019, according to a tally of public filings by the Financial Times.

The figure, an improvement on 2018, meant the Trump administration has brought fewer criminal antitrust prosecutions than any US government for almost half a century.

The persistent slowdown has come despite assurances from Makan Delrahim, chief of the antitrust division since 2017, that he is committed to criminally prosecuting price-fixing and cartels, a realm of competition law that has historically had bipartisan support.

“Criminal enforcement can be resource intensive, but it is one of our most powerful deterrents,” he told the Senate in September, noting that crimes like price-fixing “reduce faith in the free-market system”.

Criminal fines for antitrust violations have also dropped off dramatically over the past three years. In 2019, the division levied penalties of $300m, according to the FT’S analysis, an improvement on its previous figures but otherwise the lowest total since 2004.

A justice department spokesman declined to comment on the enforcement figures.

“At a time of almost unprecedented corporate consolidation, it’s troubling that the number of antitrust prosecutions pursued by the justice department remain at record low levels,” said David Cicilline, the Democratic chair of the House antitrust subcommittee.

“Working people should have confidence that the federal government is fighting for them,” he added.

The division’s prosecutions in 2019 included some cases of largescale price-fixing involving products such as seafood, computer hard disc drives, and fuel for US military bases in South Korea.

They also included smaller investigations. Six of the cases identified by the FT related to items such as insulated sleeves for beer cans and temporary tattoos.

The decline has accompanied a significant reduction in the number of attorneys and other staff in the units of the antitrust division responsible for criminal enforcement.

At the end of July, staffing in the five criminal enforcement units had fallen a fifth since Mr Trump took office, with attrition in two Dc-based units more severe, according to figures released in response to a public records request.

The drop was the result of a hiring freeze that lifted earlier this year, which had resulted in total staff numbers falling to under 600 from over 700 at the start of the administration. “They’ve been able to hire a little bit but they’re still way below the numbers a few years back,” said one former official.