USA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Djordje Petkoski, Matt Modell, Memmi Rasmussen and Tim Harris, A&O Shearman
March 2025 and a guilty verdict was returned by the jury. The Trump administration has empha - sised a continued focus on investigating labour market activities it views as collusive. ESG collaborations are another area where there may be increased enforcement activity. Past antitrust enforcers have consistently taken the position that ESG co-ordination carries antitrust risks, but the federal enforcement agencies have not brought ESG-related actions. Republican state attorneys general have filed ESG-related lawsuits, including two major cases in 2024. One lawsuit involved allegations that efforts by a series of private equity companies to pres - sure coal companies to lower carbon emissions constituted anti-competitive conduct; the oth - er alleged truck manufacturers engaged in an industry-wide conspiracy to phase out internal combustion vehicles in violation of the antitrust laws. Bid rigging violates the Sherman Act and com - panies found guilty of bid rigging can face up to a USD100 million fine, while individuals can face a USD1 million fine and up to ten years of impris - onment in a federal facility. The Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF) was established in 2019 to address bid rigging and collusive con - duct in government procurement. As part of its stated mission to protect competition and target those who defraud the government, the PCSF works with various federal, state and local agen - cies to investigate and prosecute bid rigging and collusion in government contracts. The PCSF has been highly effective, with over 145 criminal investigations opened, more than 60 criminal convictions obtained, and prosecutions involv - ing over USD576 million in government con - tracts. The DOJ has reported a marked increase in investigations and prosecutions through the PCSF, highlighting its effectiveness in address -
ing antitrust violations in public procurement and the enhanced regulatory focus on ensuring fair competition in government contracts. Related efforts have extended internationally, where the DOJ has collaborated with agencies of NATO allies to investigate into big rigging, price-fixing and market allocation in the context of security services contracts. The PCSF is expected to continue its robust enforcement efforts, expanding its reach to address emerging threats as fraudulent and collusive schemes become more sophisticated. The DOJ’s commitment to protecting public pro - curement processes and ensuring fair competi - tion will likely result in continued scrutiny of gov - ernment contracts and increased enforcement actions. Moreover, the PCSF’s success has led to the deployment of other inter-agency and intra-agency task forces, such as the recently announced FTC Joint Labor Task Force. A subject likely to be of continued interest to DOJ enforcers is artificial intelligence and algo - rithmic pricing, particularly with the rapid devel - opment and adoption of AI tools by businesses. The Division has been very vocal on the issue in press releases, speeches by officials, and a series of statements of interest filed in private lawsuits alleging antitrust violations involving common use of algorithmic pricing software by competitors. The statements of interest filed by the DOJ in these cases suggest that algorithmic collusion can be a per se violation of the antitrust laws, subject to criminal enforcement. Lawsuits challenging the legality of algorith - mic pricing under antitrust laws remain active. Although appellate courts are currently reviewing dismissals of two algorithmic price-fixing cases involving hotel chains (Gibson v Cendyn Group LLC and Cornish-Adebiyi v Caesars Entertain -
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