The Chamber Files its Deregulation Comments

Is the regulatory wrench about to turn the other way?

The Chamber appreciates President Trump’s Executive Order to Restore Competition to U.S. Markets and the follow up requests for information from the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force to suggest ways to reduce anticompetitive regulations. We agree that pro-competitive regulations can promote healthy competition.

Our submission spanned the economy. In general, we encouraged the agencies to do the following:

• Advocate for the repeal of heavy-handed regulations promulgated by the previous administration, or the end of ongoing rulemakings, that attempted to micromanage markets in ways that reduce competition.
• For national markets, use competition advocacy tools to promote uniform national standards; many national markets benefit from the uniformity and predictability that accompany federal rules, whereas a patchwork of state laws raises compliance costs, especially for small firms.
• Continue to gather empirical data on the impact of various laws and rulemakings.

Across many sectors, we highlighted federal rules that attempted to micromanage markets. In agriculture, for instance, the prior administration allowed market participants to allege a competition violation without showing a harm to competition, a position contrary to eight federal circuit courts and one that encourages costlier food production. In health care, we flagged a new rule, proposed on January 6, 2025, that would revise existing standards regarding electronic protected health information but that would, unfortunately, increase operating costs and divert resources to compliance.

Many comments spotlighted state policies. For online services, we advocated for broader federal preemption for a range of issues such as auto-renew laws, sweepstakes and contest regulations, and name-image-and likeness rules. At present, states may pass laws more stringent than the federal requirements, a patchwork that raises compliance costs. In the transportation sector, we encouraged the agencies to promote regulations that treat similar market participants similarly, neither discriminating for or against certain competitors based on arbitrary criteria.

Finally, we highlighted several topics cut across the economy, including competition and trade, privacy, merger and antitrust law, and state artificial intelligence bills. We also asked the agencies to engage in an ongoing dialogue with us and the business community; as their priorities become clear, we would welcome the opportunity to provide additional input.

By reducing regulatory burdens and revising them to promote competition, the administration can create a more dynamic and resilient economy that benefits all Americans.

About the author

Sean Heather

Sean Heather is Senior Vice President for International Regulatory Affairs and Antitrust.

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