Reuters
- US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday that Amazon had "destroyed" the US retail industry.
- The comments followed the Justice Department’s Tuesday announcement that it had begun an investigation into whether "market-leading online platforms" harmfully weaken competition.
- It’s believed the investigation will focus on Amazon, Google, and Facebook, among other tech companies.
- Watch Amazon trade live here.
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin criticized Amazon on Wednesday, saying during a CNBC interview that the e-commerce giant had "destroyed" America’s retail industry.
"If you look at Amazon, although there are certain benefits to it, they’ve destroyed the retail industry across the United States, so there’s no question they’ve limited competition," Mnuchin said.
The comments followed the Justice Department’s announcement on Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into whether a handful of "market-leading online platforms" unlawfully dominate their respective sectors. It’s widely believed the companies under investigation include Amazon, Facebook, and Google’s parent, Alphabet.
"There’s areas where they’ve really hurt small businesses, so I don’t think this is a one-size-fits-all," Mnuchin said of Amazon. "And I don’t have an opinion going in other than I think it’s absolutely right that the attorney general is looking into these issues, and I look forward to listening to his recommendations to the president."
The investigation is separate from potential antitrust inquiries involving tech giants including Apple, Google, and Facebook.
The nation’s tech conglomerates are under attack from not only the Trump administration, but a potential successor. Several Democratic presidential candidates have said that such companies have harmful monopolies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was the first to release a detailed plan for how she would split up large tech companies to boost competition.
Amazon’s stock was down roughly 0.3% as of 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Shares are up about 33% year-to-date.
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Ben Winck)