U.S. House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Antitrust Issues
$500 Billion in Economic Damage to the U.S. Expected Over 10 Years
Concerns Over Formation of a "Global Regime of Non-Tariff Trade Barriers"
"If Korea's interventionist antitrust policies are combined with ex-ante regulations, it could cost the U.S. economy more than $500 billion (approximately 700 trillion won) over the next decade and lead to trade issues between the two countries," said Shanker Singham, CEO of the Competere Foundation.
On the 16th (local time), the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled "Anti-American Antitrust: Foreign Governments' Targeting Strategies Against U.S. Companies."
According to the written testimonies released by the committee, participants expressed concerns that foreign regulations-including Korea's Online Platform Act (Onple Act), which is modeled after the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), as well as regulations from Brazil, Australia, and Japan-are harming the U.S. economy and restricting innovation.
The Onple Act, also known as the "Platform Abuse Prevention Act," aims to protect vendors from unfair practices and promote fair competition. It was a presidential campaign pledge by President Lee Jaemyung, and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating the legislative process.
However, both global big tech companies subject to the regulations and large domestic platform operators have voiced opposition, arguing that excessive regulation could stifle the development of new services and technological innovation.
During the U.S. House hearing, the Korean Fair Trade Commission's platform regulation efforts were described as "trade barriers targeting the United States," with claims that they would harm the interests of U.S. big tech firms such as Google and Apple and negatively impact both the U.S. and Korean economies.
The Competere Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit policy research organization, uses a model called "Anticompetitive Market Distortion (ACMD)" to quantify how government regulations in various countries negatively affect GDP and economic growth.
Shanker Singham, CEO of Competere, who testified as a witness, stated, "Korea's discriminatory competition policies undermine the ability of U.S. companies to do business in Korea," projecting that this would result in a loss of approximately $500 billion for the U.S. over the next ten years.
Specifically, he estimated that Korea's interventionist antitrust regulations applied across U.S. big tech companies would cause $300 billion in losses, and ex-ante regulations such as the Onple Act would result in an additional $128 billion, totaling $428 billion in economic damage. Factoring in additional social costs of 15-20%, the total loss could reach $500-525 billion.
Dirk Auer, Director of Competition Policy at the International Center for Law & Economics, stated in his written testimony, "The EU's interventionist regulatory model has spread to Japan, Korea, Brazil, and Australia," adding, "Other countries are likely to follow suit. This will create a global system of non-tariff trade barriers."
Republican Representative Scott Fitzgerald criticized foreign platform regulations, saying, "They specifically target U.S. companies, restrict consumer-friendly practices, and grant broad powers to regulators and bureaucrats without real accountability or due process."
He continued, "These are industrial policies designed to give domestic companies a geopolitical edge. After copying American innovation, they use fines and regulations to drive the companies that created that innovation out of the market."
Scott Fitzgerald, who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee, sent a letter to Korea Fair Trade Commission Chairman Han Ki-jung last July, expressing concerns about the Onple Act and formally requesting an explanation regarding the direction of the legislation.
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