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California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a press release on Monday that Amazon is engaged in price fixing and collusion with vendors and retailers to raise costs for Americans above what the market requires.
“Amid a crisis of affordability, Amazon is illegally working to rake in profits by making sure consumers have nowhere else to turn to for lower prices,” Bonta said. “We’ll see them in court.”
In the press release, Bonta said he publicly released evidence of Amazon’s alleged price fixing, including a 19-page memo. Among the examples cited, Bonta wrote that Amazon asked the apparel brand Levi’s to pressure Walmart into raising the price of a pair of khaki pants from about $25 to $29 to match Amazon’s listing price.
Other companies mentioned in the memo include Home Depot, Target, Best Buy, clothing brand Hanes, and pet product brand Chewy.
Bonta asked the court to take action against Amazon for price fixing while the case proceeds. He also asked the court to require Amazon to stop “coercing its vendors to serve as the go-between with its competitors.”
The case is scheduled to go to trial in January 2027.
In response to a request for comment, an Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that the motion is a “transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case.”
The spokesperson added that Bonta filed the motion more than three years after filing his original complaint. In 2022, Bonta said in the lawsuit that Amazon coerced sellers into signing agreements stating they would not sell their goods at a lower price to other retailers.
“Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer, and we’re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store,” the spokesperson said.
Spokespersons for Levi’s and Walmart declined to comment, saying they were not parties to the litigation.
Amazon’s stock price is up about 43% in the past year.
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