Amazon Japan Locations Raided for Alleged Antitrust Violations
Amazon has experienced numerous legal issues as far as antitrust laws and alleged violations. Though most of these cases in the past were either won by Amazon or settled out of court, the Amazon Japan offices are now under fire due to allegations of antitrust law violations.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission raided the offices of Amazon Japan recently, according to various credible news sources including Reuters and USA Today. The exact date of this event has not been released, but it has been confirmed that Amazon’s offices were raided due to the many allegations regarding antitrust law.
This was the breaking point of an ongoing investigation that found reasonable (though not conclusive) evidence that Amazon Japan has been forcing their sellers to lower prices to an unreasonably low rate in order to compete with other platforms. For example, the main competitor of Amazon Japan is Rakuten Inc. Last year, Amazon Japan’s net sales soared to over $8 billion, in comparison to Rakuten Inc., whose net sales amounted to less than $3 billion. A representative from the Japanese Fair Trade Commission declined to comment or confirm what was discovered upon completion of the raid. However, he did state that the accusations were “not incorrect.”
This issue involves not only the offices of Amazon Japan, but also the Amazon headquarters in Germany and several other countries in Europe. Last year, Germany’s political offices as well as the European Union launched an investigation towards both Amazon and Apple due to complaints in regards to “unreasonable” expectations for sellers as far as e-books. This investigation also examines the antitrust law violations suspected, as Amazon’s agreements for sellers are said to prevent them from truly earning a profit due to such severe restrictions.
The raid on Amazon Japan offices certainly will not be the last, as more information is sure to be uncovered as this situation is revealed to the public.