Trump Expected to Shift Course on Antitrust, Stop Google Breakup

The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Trump Expected to Shift Course on Antitrust, Stop Google Breakup

The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Donald Trump will likely dial back some of the antitrust policies pursued under the administration of President Joe Biden, potentially including a bid to break up Alphabet's Google over its dominance in online search, experts said.

Trump is expected to continue cases against Big Tech, several of which began in his first term, but his recent skepticism about a potential Google breakup highlights the power he will hold over how those cases are run.

"If you do that, are you going to destroy the company? What you can do without breaking it up is make sure it's more fair," he said at an event in Chicago in October, Reuters reported.

The US Department of Justice is currently pursuing two antimonopoly cases against Google - one over search and another over advertising technology, as well as a case against Apple . The US Federal Trade Commission is suing Meta Platforms and Amazon.com.

The DOJ has laid out a range of potential remedies in the search case, including making Google divest parts of its business such as the Chrome Web browser and ending agreements that make it the default search engine on devices like Apple's iPhone.

But the trial over those fixes will not happen until April 2025, with a final ruling likely in August. That gives Trump and the DOJ time to change course if they choose, said William Kovacic, a law professor at George Washington University.

"He is certainly in the position to control the DOJ's disposition of the remedies phase," said Kovacic, who chaired the Federal Trade Commission under then-president George W. Bush.

Trump is also likely to pull back on some policies that have irritated dealmakers under the Biden administration, attorneys said. One is a reluctance to settle with merging companies, which was previously common and let companies address competition problems that agencies raised about deals by taking actions like selling part of the business.

The FTC and DOJ would likely scrap merger review guidelines crafted under Biden, said Jon Dubrow, a partner at law firm McDermott Will & Emery.

"The 2023 merger guidelines were very hostile to mergers and acquisitions," he said, echoing a view widely held on Wall Street.

The FTC's ban on most noncompete clauses in employer-employee contracts could be more vulnerable to a lawsuit brought by the US Chamber of Commerce, if the FTC votes not to defend it.

About 30 million people, or 20% of US workers, have signed noncompetes, according to the FTC. The agency is currently appealing a court ruling that blocked the rule.

But such actions to dismantle the work of FTC Chair Lina Khan will depend on a Trump-appointed replacement being confirmed to give the bipartisan five-member commission a Republican majority.

Khan's initiatives focused on what she saw as societal harms caused by unchecked corporate consolidation, drawing praise from both Democrats and some Republicans, including Vice President-elect JD Vance. But some in the business and legal communities have criticized her approach as too aggressive.

Trump is not expected to drastically curtail antitrust enforcement, however. A similar number of merger cases was brought under his first term as during the first two years of the Biden administration, according to an analysis by the Sheppard Mullin law firm.



India to Offer $4-$5 Bln in Incentives for Electronics Production, Weaning Off China

A social media influencer uses a phone on the day of the unveiling of Hyundai IONIQ 9, a three-row electric SUV during a Hyundai event in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California, US, November 20, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole
A social media influencer uses a phone on the day of the unveiling of Hyundai IONIQ 9, a three-row electric SUV during a Hyundai event in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California, US, November 20, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole
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India to Offer $4-$5 Bln in Incentives for Electronics Production, Weaning Off China

A social media influencer uses a phone on the day of the unveiling of Hyundai IONIQ 9, a three-row electric SUV during a Hyundai event in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California, US, November 20, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole
A social media influencer uses a phone on the day of the unveiling of Hyundai IONIQ 9, a three-row electric SUV during a Hyundai event in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California, US, November 20, 2024. REUTERS/Daniel Cole

India will offer up to $5 billion in incentives to companies to make components locally for gadgets from mobiles to laptops, two government officials said, in a bid to bolster the burgeoning industry and wean off supplies from China.
India's electronic production has more than doubled in the last six years to $115 billion in 2024, led by growth in mobile manufacturing by global firms such as Apple and Samsung. It is now the world's fourth-largest smart phone supplier.
But the sector faces criticism for its heavy reliance on imported components from countries such as China.
"The new scheme will incentivize production of key components like printed circuit boards that will improve domestic value addition and deepen local supply chains for a range of electronics," one of the two officials said.
The incentives are likely to be offered under a new scheme expected to be launched in two to three months, said the officials, who asked not to be identified as details of the scheme are not yet public.
The scheme is likely to offer incentives totaling between $4-$5 billion to global or local firms which qualify, Reuters reported.
The plan, designed by the India's electronics ministry, has identified components eligible for incentives and is in its final stages.
The finance ministry will approve the scheme's final allocation soon, the first official added, with the sources expecting it to be launched in the next 2-3 months.
India's electronics ministry and finance ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
India is aiming to expand its electronics manufacturing to $500 billion by the fiscal year 2030, including production of components worth $150 billion, according to the government's top policy think tank Niti Aayog.
India imported electronics, telecoms gear, and electrical products worth $89.8 billion in the fiscal year 2024, with more than half sourced from China and Hong Kong, according to an analysis by private think tank GTRI.
"This scheme is coming at a time when it is critical to promote component manufacturing that will help us aim for a global-scale of electronics production," Pankaj Mohindroo, head of India's Cellular and Electronics Association, said.