US corporations with a market capitalisation of more than $100 billion could be prevented from carrying out mergers and acquisitions
Such an initiative was proposed by Josh Hawley, a Republican senator known for his criticism of the so-called big tech – the country’s biggest tech companies. In fact, such companies are precisely the target of a bill that Hawley registered Monday in the upper house of the U.S. legislature.
Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc, Alphabet Inc, Google Inc and Facebook Inc would be barred from making any deals and putting their products above those of competitors.
The bill was introduced at a time when another issue of no small importance to companies – tax hikes – was being tackled in Washington. The author of this initiative was Joe Biden himself. The president hopes to finance his infrastructure rehabilitation programme with higher corporate taxation. True, even the Biden administration doubts the success of this campaign against the business elite. Washington has already been offered a deal and officials are likely to accept it.