President Joe Biden today will sign an executive order targeting competition and corporate consolidation. Included among the 72 initiatives in the order is a section addressing right to repair regulations.
The White House said in a fact sheet the action is being taken because corporate consolidation has increased the past two decades. A fact sheet cites more than 75% of industries featuring a small number of large companies controlling more business than they did 20 years ago.
When faced with similar situations, the White House said, President Teddy Roosevelt introduced trust-busting initiatives, while President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration brought eight times the antitrust causes in two years than previously had been taken.
“Today, President Biden is taking decisive action to reduce the trend of corporate consolidation, increase competition, and deliver concrete benefits to America’s consumers, workers, farmers, and small businesses,” the White House said. “The order includes 72 initiatives by more than a dozen federal agencies to promptly tackle some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy.”
One of those problems involves the right to repair concept.
The issue first took hold in 2012, when Massachusetts passed the nation’s first motor vehicle owners’ right to repair act. RVIA fought to include an RV exemption to the bill, and subsequent states adopted similar language that included the RV exemption.
As states began to examine and introduce right to repair legislation around consumer products, most included exemptions for motor vehicles. However, RVs and motorcycles generally are exempted from the definition of motor vehicles in the bills, meaning the right to repair legislation does apply to RV manufacturers.
RVIA has worked to address the conflicts at the state level. Biden’s order, however, encourages the independent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to limit “manufacturers” from barring self-repairs or third-party repairs of their products.
“(The order) encourages the FTC to limit powerful equipment manufacturers from restricting people’s ability to use independent repair shops or do DIY repairs—such as when tractor companies block farmers from repairing their own tractors,” the White House stated.
Although the fact sheet specifically addresses agriculture and farming equipment, independent reports cite the administration’s desire to expand the right to repair regulations to include consumer products, such as Apple allowing other companies to repair cracked iPhone screens.
