EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump’s administration is taking shape and Andrew Ferguson, the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), previewed the administration’s plans for the agency in his first interview since entering the role.
Ferguson spoke with FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence and said that he thinks the Trump administration is going to take an aggressive approach to enforcing antitrust laws that are designed to counter monopolistic, anti-competitive conduct in business.
“What I think companies can expect over the next couple of years is vigorous antitrust enforcement. If we think that you have violated the law, which is what we’re going to follow – the law, not my preferences, the law – then we’re going to enforce it,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson discussed the Trump administration’s decision to retain the merger guidelines that the Biden administration left in place rather than rescinding them outright.
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“Almost every set of guidelines is retained by the next administration: President Trump retained President Obama’s guidelines, President Bush retained President Clinton’s guidelines,” he said. “Makes sense. It’s really important to promote stability and certainty across administrations.”
“No guidelines are perfect. There are parts of those guidelines, I think, that push the envelope a bit,” Ferguson said.
He added that he plans to work with the Justice Department’s antitrust division to make sure those guidelines are working consistent with the law and that they could “undertake an iterative, transparent revision process, but I don’t think we should just rescind them wholesale.”
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Ferguson also signaled the agency plans to use its antitrust authorities to protect workers by ensuring that their ability to compete in the labor market and move between jobs isn’t unduly inhibited by things like non-compete agreements or no-poach agreements.
“It really is important for the FTC under President Trump’s administration to do everything it can to protect workers. President Trump is the head of the party of America’s workers, of America’s laborers, and the FTC and the antitrust laws protect labor markets,” he said.
“I think one of the most important things that the FTC will do under my watch is focusing very intently on attacking anti-competitive conduct that hurts America’s workers,” Ferguson said. “I think that is part and parcel of what President Trump was elected to do, and the FTC under President Trump is going to do it.”
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