Amazon Poised for Late 2026 Trial in FTC Monopoly Power Lawsuit

The Federal Trade Commission’s high-profile antitrust lawsuit against e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. will go to trial in October 2026, per a US federal judge’s order on Tuesday.

The FTC sued Amazon in September over allegations the online retailer harmed consumers by causing prices to go up on competing websites. The regulator cited testimony from online brands and sellers who claim Amazon retaliated against them for offering lower prices on other platforms. The agency says Amazon maintains a monopoly over the online marketplace by overcharging sellers and degrading quality for shoppers.

Amazon, in an effort to dismiss the case, said in a December filing that the FTC’s complaint fails to prove the online retailer’s conduct harms consumers, and relies on anecdotal evidence from online sellers. But the company’s characterization is premature and should be hashed out in court, the FTC’s lawyers argued earlier this month in a response to Amazon’s motion to dismiss.

“Amazon’s tactics are part of an interconnected and mutually reinforcing strategy to unlawfully maintain its monopolies,” the FTC said in its filing.

US District Judge John Chun set the trial for October 13, 2026, in US District Court for the Western District of Washington. It will be preceded by a series of quarterly status conferences, the first of which is slated for June 3. Chun’s case scheduling order doesn’t include a final ruling on Amazon’s motion to dismiss the case.

The e-commerce lawsuit against Amazon is part of the Biden administration’s broader push to rein in tech giants’ dominance through antitrust enforcement. A federal judge heard arguments in the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Alphabet Inc.‘s search engine last year—the biggest tech monopoly case since Microsoft in the 1990s.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Amazon.com Inc., W.D. Wash., No. 23-cv-01495, 2/13/24.