Japanese Trade Commission accepts Amazon’s improvement plan
The Japan Trade Commission (JTC) has accepted Amazon.com Inc. Japan’s improvement plan as part of the investigation of Amazon’s potential antitrust violations. Amazon Japan has been investigated by JTC for misusing its dominant position after online retailers had to partly cover costs of discounts applied on goods by Amazon, and Amazon requested that suppliers pay system usage fees and marketing costs up to 10% of the delivery prices.
In the approved improvement plan, Amazon Japan has committed to return roughly ¥2 billion (US$18.8 million) to about 1400 suppliers. This way the investigation by the JTC is closed and JTC will not issue a decision on whether Amazon violated antitrust law.