Maintaining U.S. Economic Competitiveness

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about the importance of economic competitiveness.

This is an economic issue that the President has prioritized in his efforts to build back better, recognizing that promoting competition can lower prices for families, increase wages for workers, and promote innovation and even faster economic growth. On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on ``Promoting Competition in the American Economy,'' which stressed the importance of a resilient economy that incorporates a fair, open, and competitive marketplace, and warned against excessive market concentration which threatens basic economic liberties, democratic accountability, and the welfare of workers, farmers, small businesses, startups, and consumers.

In the Joint Economic Committee, which I chair, we held a hearing earlier this year on corporate power, specifically on the rise and concentration of corporate market power in the United States and how it harms consumers, workers, and small businesses. In that hearing, we found that as business concentration has increased in the United States, the rise of concentrated corporate market power in the U.S. is associated with weak investment rates, lower productivity growth, and higher prices. Indeed, firms invest less per dollar of profit today now than they did in the second half of the 20th century, making labor less productive and suppressing wages.

Congress over the years has acted to promote competition, including legislation like the Lanham Act to regulate the registration and use of trademarks and protect from unfair competition. Further, the Lanham Act provides federal judicial protection against infringement for trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Specifically, the law provides federal causes of action for trademark dilution and several unfair competition claims, such as unregistered trademark infringement, false advertising, false endorsement, and false designation of origin.

I am concerned by cases where domestic, foreign, or multinational corporations are using the Lanham Act to suppress or restrict competition within the United States, particularly with small businesses. It is especially disheartening when those goods or services are dedicated to the health and safety of minority communities, where the impact of these cases will be felt most.

Our economy has traditionally been a powerful engine for innovation that has provided unmatched prosperity to millions. However, unprecedented corporate concentration and anticompetitive practices are preventing us from reaching our economic potential. I urge my colleagues to champion the Biden agenda for economic competitiveness and take steps to tackle pernicious behavior.

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