President Donald Trump has struck down an executive action put into effect by former President Joe Biden. Trump on Wednesday revoked a 2021 executive order on promoting competition in the U.S. economy issued by Joe Biden, the White House said.
The Guardian reports that the Justice Department welcomed Trump’s revocation of the order, saying it was pursuing an “America first antitrust” approach focused on free markets instead of what it called the “overly prescriptive and burdensome approach” of the Biden administration.
In July 2021, Biden signed a sweeping executive order aimed at promoting competition across the U.S. economy. The order targeted what the administration identified as growing corporate consolidation and anti-competitive practices that were driving up prices for consumers and stifling innovation. It included 72 initiatives involving over a dozen federal agencies, signaling one of the most aggressive government efforts in decades to rein in corporate power.
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The executive order focused on sectors such as airlines, agriculture, technology, healthcare, and broadband services. It called for stronger antitrust enforcement, encouraged scrutiny of large mergers, and directed agencies to crack down on unfair practices like excessive airline fees, non-compete agreements in labor contracts, and price-gouging in prescription drugs.
In the tech industry, the order urged regulators to examine platform dominance and data practices, while in agriculture, it addressed the monopolistic control of meatpacking companies.
Biden described the initiative as a necessary step to “lower prices, increase wages, and promote innovation,” emphasizing that healthy competition is essential to a functioning capitalist economy. The order marked a clear shift toward more aggressive antitrust policy.
The initiative, which was very popular with Americans, was championed by top Biden economic officials, many of whom had previously worked for or with the senator Elizabeth Warren, who played a key role in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Barack Obama.
The revocation of Biden’s 2021 executive order on promoting competition marks a significant policy shift in how the federal government approaches corporate regulation and antitrust enforcement.
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Biden’s order had launched 72 initiatives across more than a dozen federal agencies to address what his administration saw as harmful corporate consolidation, particularly in sectors like tech, agriculture, healthcare, airlines, and broadband. It aimed to boost consumer protections, crack down on anti-competitive mergers, limit exploitative practices like excessive airline fees and non-compete clauses, and restore market fairness. The policy was widely supported by progressives and economists who viewed government intervention as essential to restoring balance in increasingly concentrated markets.
By contrast, the Trump administration has framed the repeal as part of a strategy that favors market-driven solutions over federal oversight. The Department of Justice welcomed the rollback, criticizing Biden’s framework as overly bureaucratic and burdensome to business growth. Trump’s move aligns with a deregulatory agenda that prioritizes economic efficiency, investor freedom, and minimal government interference.