Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act

Key Points

• The bill strengthens price discrimination rules by expanding coverage beyond traditional commerce to any activity affecting commerce, making it much harder for suppliers to charge different prices to different buyers based on their size.
• Current law only covers physical goods, but this bill extends fair pricing protections to services as well. This means industries like shipping, consulting, and digital services would fall under the same anti-discrimination rules.
• The bill removes a key legal defense that currently lets sellers justify lower prices by claiming they were simply matching a competitor's offer. Without this defense, it becomes much harder for large buyers to get special discounts.
• Small businesses that prove they were charged unfairly high prices would automatically be presumed to have been harmed. They would be entitled to damages at least equal to the amount of the price difference, making it much easier to win lawsuits.
• Companies with over $100 billion in annual retail sales face a stricter standard and can be held liable for receiving unfair discounts even without knowingly breaking the law, while smaller companies must have known the deal was illegal.