California AG Accuses Amazon of Price-Fixing Scheme

California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Amazon on Monday of orchestrating an illegal price-fixing scheme by pressuring vendors to raise product prices on competing retailers' websites, according to a court filing unsealed as part of the state's ongoing antitrust lawsuit against the e-commerce company.

The allegations, detailed in a largely unredacted 16-page motion for a preliminary injunction filed earlier this year, claim Amazon exploited its market dominance to ensure it remained the lowest-priced option for consumers. Bonta's office outlined three main tactics in the scheme: first, securing a vendor's agreement to increase prices and then forcing other retailers to match them; second, directing competitors to raise prices ahead of Amazon matching the higher rate; and third, prompting vendors to remove products from sites offering lower prices, allowing Amazon to subsequently hike its own prices without competition.

The filing includes specific examples of communications between Amazon and vendors. In one case, Amazon alerted Levi Strauss & Co. to lower prices for khaki pants on Walmart's website, expressing hope that the issue would resolve soon. A Levi's...