Washington, D.C. — The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to policy announcements made today at the third meeting of the White House Competition Council. At the meeting, President Biden directed leaders in every agency to examine unfair fee and pricing practices across the economy.

“Almost everywhere you look — big banks, credit card companies, airlines, entertainment, and the list goes on — junk fees are a pervasive, deceptive tactic that transfer tens of billions of dollars every year from hardworking families and small businesses to monopolists and financiers,” said Sarah Miller, Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “It’s encouraging to see the President charge the entire administration with eliminating junk fees, as CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and FTC Chair Lina Khan are already working to do in their jurisdictions, and imperative that he ensures his cabinet delivers.”

Many of the other policies discussed at today’s meeting of the White House Competition Council will also serve to promote competition and bring down prices for American families and businesses. These policies were a part of President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy and include increased transparency in airline industry ticketing and fees, prohibiting anticompetitive shipping practices, and promoting competition in the meat and poultry markets.

Regarding the Department of Transportation’s New Transparency Rule

“We applaud the DOT’s efforts to make the opaque air travel shopping process more transparent and fair for baggage and ticket change fees,” said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation. “However, we’re distressed that the Department still refuses to comply with legislation that clearly directed the agency to eliminate fees for families with children under 13 to sit together. This is not a fee that needs to be transparent—it’s a fee that needs to be abolished.”

“As the Department of Justice fights in court this week to block JetBlue Airways and American Airlines’ anticompetitive joint venture, it is critical that the Department of Transportation take similar action to protect consumers and to preserve the little competition that remains in the airline industry,” added McGee.

Regarding the Federal Maritime Commission’s Proposed Rule on Unreasonable Refusal to Deal 

“The FMC’s proposed rule will block dominant ocean carriers from unreasonably refusing to service U.S. shippers, a practice that has harmed our goods deficit, along with countless American farmers and exporter,” said Director of Research Matt Stoller. “Over the course of the pandemic, these carriers have stopped carrying our exports in order to race back to East Asia quicker, allowing them to bring more high-value products to the U.S. The proposed rule stops this practice, cementing clear term definitions in the recently passed Ocean Shipping Reform Act to ensure that monopolistic ocean carrier firms must transport imports and exports unless they can demonstrate legitimate transportation factors that prevent it.”

Regarding the Department of Agriculture’s Proposed Rule on Inclusive Competition and Market Integrity and Agricultural Competition Challenge to the State Attorneys General

“Americans are paying too much for meat even as farmers and ranchers struggle to make a living because a handful of corporate monopolies control every aspect of the industry,” said Erik Peinert, Research Manager and Editor. “By breathing new life into the Packers and Stockyards Act and providing $15 million in additional funding for state attorneys general, USDA is finally taking real steps to promote competition and lower prices in the meat and poultry markets.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.