President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order revoking a Biden-era antitrust initiative. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
President Donald Trump on Wednesday rescinded a signature Joe Biden-era initiative aimed at promoting competition in the U.S. economy and curbing monopolies, especially in the technology industry.
Trump revoked Biden’s Executive Order 14036 with an executive order of his own.
The far-ranging EO 14036 was signed by Biden in July 2021 to bolster antitrust enforcement to “promote the interests of American workers, businesses and consumers” and protect them from economic consolidation.
Trump offered no reason for the revocation, though the Justice Department celebrated the move, saying it will use this as an opportunity to “recalibrate and modernize” its approach to competition policy.
“America First Antitrust focuses on empowering the American people in the free markets, not enabling regulators and bureaucrats to prescribe outcomes,” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a statement.
“We are unleashing the new American Golden Age through antitrust enforcement that removes barriers to innovation and opportunity and limits regulatory burdens on free competition.”
The Justice Department also criticized the Biden initiative as “overly prescriptive and burdensome,” and said that the Trump administration is focused on crafting executive orders that are “tailored” and call for lowering drug prices and reducing regulatory barriers.
