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EU Seeks US-Lodged Complaint on Amazon Allegedly ‘Abusing’ Its Power Amid Antitrust Probe - Report

© AP Photo / Ross D FranklinIn this Nov. 11, 2010 file photo, the Amazon.com logo adorns an Amazon.com fulfillment center in Goodyear, Ariz., one of several centers in the Phoenix metro area to open in recent years. The issue of whether Amazon.com should be required to collect tax on online sales to Arizonans isn't going away. State legislators considered but ultimately shelved proposals to force the online retailer to collect tax on its sales in Arizona. But the issue is expected to resurface publicly within the next few months when a newly appointed state task force considers making recommendations for legislative action in 2013.
In this Nov. 11, 2010 file photo, the Amazon.com logo adorns an Amazon.com fulfillment center in Goodyear, Ariz., one of several centers in the Phoenix metro area to open in recent years. The issue of whether Amazon.com should be required to collect tax on online sales to Arizonans isn't going away. State legislators considered but ultimately shelved proposals to force the online retailer to collect tax on its sales in Arizona. But the issue is expected to resurface publicly within the next few months when a newly appointed state task force considers making recommendations for legislative action in 2013. - Sputnik International
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Earlier, Germany reportedly urged the European Union to pursue a tougher line on the Big Four tech companies, or Big Tech, which include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, to strengthen Europe’s “digital sovereignty”.

An anonymous online merchant’s complaint to US authorities on Amazon’s logistics practices has caught the attention of the European Union, Bloomberg reports. The outlet cites a document revealing that the European Commission has asked a US congressional committee to share a plea suggesting that the tech giant is abusing its power as a marketplace owner to push its logistics services, for instance, delivery, packaging, or providing storage.

The 62-page complaint that Brussels asked for was lodged by one of the e-commerce behemoth’s long-time clients. It provided an analysis of thousands of transactions, claiming that it proves that Jeff Bezos’ company has “tied” the marketplace to using Amazon’s services.

Amazon disputed the allegations brought by the complaint. Confronted by Representative Jared Golden at a House Committee on Small Business hearing, Amazon’s Vice President Dharmesh Mehta dismissed allegations that the giant was creating algorithms “to favour sellers or products based on who’s selling them or the fulfilment channel. We design them to prioritise what we think customers want most”.

EU Probe Into Amazon

The EU is already looking into Amazon’s practices amid an antitrust probe that was opened in July and is supposed to find out whether the company, functioning as a store itself, is exploiting data from its marketplace branch, which rival retailers also use, in order to gain an advantage. The regulator is concerned that Amazon could use this information to manipulate the “buy box”, which influences what store a buyer will purchases a particular product from.

This photograph taken on September 28, 2017, shows a smartphone being operated in front of GAFA logos (acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon web giants) as background in Hйdй-Bazouges, western France - Sputnik International
Google Antitrust Probe Will Extend to Search Function, Android Businesses - Report

An algorithm is said to choose the buy box winner, but if one understands how to manipulate it, then retailers could enhance their transactions for a particular item. The bloc is now busy building a “statement of objections”, which could result in fines and confirmation that the company has broken antitrust rules.

While both the European Commission and the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel remain tight-lipped on the matter, an Amazon spokesman told Bloomberg that it “will cooperate fully with the European Commission and continue working hard to support businesses of all sizes and help them grow”.

Berlin’s Call

The news about fresh suspicions against Amazon came in the wake of a Financial Times report that Germany had called on the EU to pursue a tougher line on the Big Four tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, also known as Big Tech, to strengthen Europe’s “digital sovereignty”.

In a letter to the EU’s competition chief Margrethe Vestager seen by the newspaper, German Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier stressed that “in light of current developments in the global data and digital economy, we require tougher oversight of abusive practices in order to maintain competition”.

“Specific rules of behaviour need to be imposed on market-dominating online platforms”, Altmaier said, referring to Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook.

Digital Tax Battles

Earlier, the European Commission called for imposing an additional tax aimed at Big Tech’s digital sales in order to curb the practice of paying global levies in countries with lower tax rates.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on July 10, 2019 shows a Facebook logo on July 4, 2019 in Nantes, an Apple logo in San Francisco on September 7, 2016, a Google logo in China's Chongqing on August 23, 2018, and an Amazon logo in New York on September 28, 2011 - Sputnik International
Germany Urges Brussels to Tighten Screws on Big Tech to Boost the EU’s ‘Digital Security’ – Report

After months of negotiations, the European Union in March abandoned plans for a digital tax on corporations following objections from some countries, including Ireland, Malta, and the three Baltic States, which offer attractive low-tax regimes to tech businesses. However, despite the failure of plans to broker an EU-wide agreement, France has gone ahead with a three percent levy on annual revenues of major online platforms operating in the country. Legislation introducing the GAFA tax, named after IT giants Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, was adopted by French lawmakers on 11 July.

The measure met with backlash on the part of the IT giants, who called it discriminatory. Moreover, since most of the large technology companies are US-based, Washington called the new tax "ill-conceived" and threatened to fight it at the World Trade Organisation.

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