Canada Widens Amazon Antitrust Probe Over Pricing Policy As Prime Day Takes Off

Canada’s antitrust agency said Tuesday it has secured a court order requiring Amazon (AMZN) to produce documents and data related to its ongoing investigation into the e-commerce giant’s pricing policies, coinciding with the kickoff of its Prime Day event.

The Canadian Competition Bureau said the court order would allow it to move forward with its probe into whether Amazon’s practices amount to an “abuse of dominance” under the country’s Competition Act. 

Amazon’s stock fell 1.1% after the opening bell on Tuesday amid conflicting opinions on how well the company’s Prime Day sale is going to perform this year, given the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade war and ever-shifting tariffs. According to Adobe’s estimates, Amazon Prime Day could push online spending across retailers up by 28.4% to $23.8 billion. 

Despite the downswing, retail sentiment on Stocktwits around Amazon improved to ‘bullish’ territory from ‘neutral’ after the stock received price target hikes from Wells Fargo and Roth Capital before the market opened. 

Canada’s Competition Bureau said the probe is focused on Amazon’s “Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy,” which governs how third-party sellers price their goods on the platform.

The policy in question allows Amazon to penalize sellers if they offer products on Amazon’s Canadian site at significantly higher prices than those offered recently either on Amazon or other platforms. According to the Bureau, it is examining whether the purpose or effect of this policy is anticompetitive.

It said the investigation is centered around whether the policy enables Amazon to charge sellers higher fees than it otherwise could, leading to increased retail prices for consumers, and whether it restricts competition by preventing sellers from offering lower prices through rival platforms. 

The Bureau will also investigate whether Amazon’s policy generally reduces price competition across online retail marketplaces.

The Federal Court issued the order compelling Amazon to provide relevant records following an application by the Competition Bureau under Section 11 of the Competition Act. The agency emphasized that no final determination has been made at this stage, and Amazon has not been found to have contravened the Act.

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