"America First Antitrust": A potential political reorientation of US Antitrust Laws?
In the July 2025 edition of Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht, Hartmut Schnieder published an insightful editorial titled "America First Antitrust". The article discusses a significant political reorientation of US antitrust law under the new Republican administration, framing it within an "America First" approach.
Schnieder's editorial offers a unique analysis of the potential impacts of this reorientation on competition law and antitrust enforcement in the US. The shift, as outlined by Schnieder, emphasizes a move away from previous U.S. antitrust policies that primarily focused on consumer welfare and market competition, irrespective of national economic interests.
Instead, the new approach prioritizes the protection and promotion of U.S. businesses in the global economy, increases scrutiny on foreign firms and investments, and shifts enforcement from purely abstract economic efficiency models to a framework considering geopolitical and industrial policy goals. This reflects a broader trend of politicizing antitrust law to align with national strategic interests rather than strictly traditional antitrust goals like consumer price and choice maximization.
The editorial serves as a valuable resource for understanding the potential shifts in antitrust enforcement under the new Republican administration. It provides a comparative analysis of the antitrust enforcement policies under the new administration and those of the Trump I and Biden administrations, offering insights on how the new administration's approach to antitrust might differ from previous administrations.
Schnieder's editorial, written in German, is expected to spark debate and discussion among antitrust scholars and practitioners. It is a follow-up to Schnieder's previous perspectives on antitrust enforcement, published in 2017 and 2021, and discusses the anticipated changes in antitrust enforcement under the new Republican administration in the United States.
References:
[1] Schnieder, H. (2025). America First Antitrust. Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht.
[2] Various sources confirm the analysis centers on this ideological and enforcement change under the Republican administration beginning in 2025, marking a significant departure from prior U.S. antitrust enforcement philosophies.
Financial scholars and business analysts are encouraged to carefully examine Hartmut Schnieder's editorial on the politicization of antitrust law, as published in the July 2025 edition of Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht. The piece, titled "America First Antitrust," presents an in-depth analysis of the significant shift in US antitrust law under the new Republican administration, prioritizing American businesses over purely economic efficiency models. This change is predicted to have far-reaching consequences for antitrust enforcement in the realm of general-news and politics.
