Trump-era merger guidelines revoked by Democrat-controlled FTC

The Democrat-controlled Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday revoked the Trump administration’s guidelines on vertical mergers, or deals between two companies that aren’t direct competitors, a move likely to result in greater antitrust scrutiny of mergers in the coming months.

In a 3-2 vote, the FTC’s Democratic commissioners, led by Biden-appointed Chairwoman Lina Khan, said the vertical merger guidelines adopted in 2020 had problems and weren’t tough enough.