The United States and the Future Development of Global Competition and Consumer Protection

William E. Kovacic
U.S. Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a domestic agency with an expanding role in the formulation of international policies concerning competition and consumer protection. An increasing amount of commerce within the FTCs competition policy and consumer protection jurisdiction involves cross border transactions and is subject to scrutiny by numerous competition and consumer protection agencies overseas. The content and quality of enforcement programs and related decisions taken by foreign authorities in matters such as merger control and privacy exert ever greater influence on the U.S. market and the conduct of American firms.

The increasing interdependence between U.S. and foreign regulatory policy has demanded that U.S. competition and consumer protection authorities engage themselves more extensively in international affairs. This has required a significant adjustment in the orientation and perspective of the FTC. This presentation addresses the modern transformation of the FTCs international programs and emphasizes their importance to the fulfillment of the Commissions traditional competition and consumer protection responsibilities. It focuses on the importance of investments in intellectual leadership as means of exercising global influence in an environment that features over 105 jurisdictions with competition laws and a larger number of countries with consumer protection regimes. The presentation suggests what U.S. agencies must do if they are to have a major hand in setting international standards for competition policy and consumer protection.

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News & Politics

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[KhmerD0g]

U.S. will bankrupt and break up.