President Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the Economy (EO) will harm rather than promote competition and continue to build on his agenda to increase the size, scope, power, and control of the federal government.

If federal agencies and Congress agree to adopt the extreme agenda outlined in the EO that was issued today, June 9, 2021, innovation and investment by the private sector across all industries will be seriously harmed.  These ideas completely miss the mark, including lowering drug prices through importation of drugs from other countries if they are "safe."  This concept has been around for many years and was enacted into law in six states, but the Food and Drug Administration’s final rule for submitting importation requests to the agency makes it unlikely this will occur, since the states are required to show that their program would be safe and save money.  And Canadian officials have repeatedly said they will not supply America with any drugs, because their primary objective is to supply their citizens with safe drugs, and there are already shortages of drugs and supplies in their country.

The EO asks the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to restore Title II, or net neutrality, restrictions on the internet, which reduced investment in broadband deployment by $24-$30 billion.  After Title II was repealed by the FCC, the restoration of the longstanding and successful light-touch regime over the internet proved its worth, as tens of millions of Americans working and going to school from home were able to benefit from a network that was far more resilient than in other countries with more restrictive regulations on the internet.  President Biden is choosing to turn his back on this proven success story.

Also included is Right to Repair, which would allow anyone to open up proprietary devices and see how they work, which will violate intellectual property rights and fail to correctly repair the device.  President Biden is also proposing more stringent requirements for mergers and acquisitions across every sector listed in the EO.  More government regulations and interference in the free market, especially when many of these proposals have proven to be anti-competitive, wasteful, and ineffective in the past, will do more harm than good to the U.S. economy.