US antitrust case against Amazon to move forward

(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s case accusing Amazon of stifling competition in online retail will move forward, though some of the states that sued alongside the agency had their claims dismissed, court documents showed.

U.S. District Judge John Chun in Seattle unsealed his ruling from Sept. 30, which dismissed some of the claims brought by attorneys general in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Oklahoma.

Last year, the FTC alleged Amazon.com (NASDAQ:), which has 1 billion items in its online superstore, was using an algorithm that pushed up prices U.S. households paid by more than $1 billion. Amazon has said in court papers it stopped using the program in 2019.

The FTC has accused the online retailer of using anti-competitive tactics to maintain dominance among online superstores and marketplaces.

Amazon asked Chun to dismiss the case in December, saying the FTC had raised no evidence of harm to consumers.

The judge said in his ruling that he cannot consider Amazon’s claims that its actions benefited competition at this early stage in the case.