By Jody Godoy
Aug 27 (Reuters) – A California judge on Thursday said he was likely to deny a bid to block Amazon from allegedly fixing prices by pressuring rivals to raise prices, in a setback for California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s case against the online retailer.
• Bonta sued Amazon in 2022, accusing the company of dominating online retail with anticompetitive tactics that raise prices for consumers.
• In April, Bonta said his office had uncovered evidence of Amazon getting brands including Levi Strauss, Allergan and Hanes to prod online rivals such as Walmart and Target to raise prices for consumers so it would not be undercut. Bonta asked the judge to block Amazon from illegally fixing prices.
• Judge Ethan Schulman in San Francisco Superior Court said at a hearing on Thursday that he had tentatively ruled to deny the request, though a final decision will not come until after the hearing.
• Schulman expressed skepticism towards the request, saying the state had relied on evidence from 2023.
• A Bonta spokesperson called the ruling disappointing but said his office looks forward to trial. “We continue to believe that Amazon’s ongoing price fixing behavior is harming California consumers,” the spokesperson said.
• The case is scheduled for trial in January.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Alistair Bell)
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