Break up monopolies to ensure we have a competitive, vibrant economy
Markets are no longer free when just a small handful of corporations control them. When monopolies tighten their grip, prices rise, product quality declines, wages stagnate, small businesses wither, and innovation dies. This is not capitalism, where competition in the market benefits all; it is a power grab.
No company should be so powerful that it dictates prices, crushes competition, or holds the public hostage to its greed. A thriving marketplace depends on choice, competition, and opportunity. Breaking up monopolies revives local businesses, drives down costs, and promotes opportunity and innovation.
When only a few corporations own and shape the overwhelming majority of news coverage — with estimates showing six companies controlling 90% of U.S. media — it concentrates the power to influence public opinion, narrow the range of voices people hear from, and weaken the democratic debate essential to a thriving republic. From tech giants to media empires, concentrated power must be broken up for the sake of a competitive and fair economy and a free society.
However, tools designed to break up monopolies only work when regulators choose to use them. For decades, narrow interpretations of antitrust law and outdated standards for evaluating competition have allowed dominant firms in tech, media, healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals, and agriculture to consolidate unchecked. Project 2029 supports updating enforcement standards to reflect the realities of the modern economy, where platform dominance, data control, and private-equity roll-ups can crush competition just as effectively as the monopolies of the past.
We are working diligently to usher in a new era of anti-trust enforcement to break the chains of monopoly and let fairness flourish once more. Our anti-trust policies include:
Directing the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to vigorously enforce the Sherman Antitrust Act. This Act prohibits monopolization or attempts at monopolizing any aspect of interstate trade or commerce. It restricts business activities that inhibit interstate commerce and competition, including contracts, combinations, and conspiracies in restraint of trade, and makes these acts a felony. This act has been the basis for numerous antitrust cases over the years, but lenient enforcement has enabled rampant monopolization in recent decades.
Directing the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to aggressively enforce the Clayton Antitrust Act, which was enacted to strengthen and supplement the Sherman Antitrust Act. It explicitly outlaws price discrimination against competing companies, conditioning sales on exclusive dealing, and mergers and acquisitions when they may substantially reduce competition or tend to create a monopoly. Additionally, the Clayton Act exempts labor unions and agricultural cooperatives from antitrust liability, recognizing the importance of collective bargaining and cooperative activities. Like the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act is enforced by the DOJ and the FTC and has been influential in shaping antitrust policy and enforcement in the United States.
Leveraging the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on monopolies. The Federal Trade Commission Act established the FTC as a regulatory agency charged with promoting consumer protection and preventing anticompetitive practices. While not exclusively focused on antitrust matters, the FTC Act grants the FTC broad authority to investigate and take action against unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices affecting commerce. The FTC Act complements the Sherman and Clayton Acts by providing the FTC with additional tools to address anticompetitive behavior and protect consumers from deceptive or unfair business practices. During the previous administration, the FTC was leveraged to reclaim the agency’s existing powers, which included revamping its scrutiny of mergers with the aim of unleashing a crackdown on monopolies.
Directing the Treasury to resume enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act to expose shell companies. Shell companies and beneficial ownership concealment can distort fair market competition, so it is essential to enforce this act to ensure a more equitable economic environment.
