US defended Amazon after article confirmed firm bypassed Indian legislation

The be aware, contained in an e-mail dated Feb. 18, mentioned that India’s antitrust watchdog had reviewed many such allegations in opposition to U.S. e-commerce corporations and located nothing improper.
Biden’s envoy, former U.S. Secretary of State Kerry, is in control of local weather change coverage. He was scheduled to talk that day with India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
The U.S. authorities was involved that Goyal would convey up the Reuters story, so it rapidly drafted a be aware in regards to the article in case he did, the emails present.”This might come up within the name since as you understand Minister Goyal is vulnerable to convey up tangential matters,” Thomas Carnegie, a U.S. embassy official in New Delhi, emailed an official on the USTR.Philip M. Ingeneri, one other U.S. embassy official, additionally advised the USTR official in an e-mail on Feb 18 that he had “verified” the contents of the be aware ready for Kerry with Amazon India’s authorities affairs chief as “true and accurate.” The emails don’t describe what in the end occurred through the Kerry-Goyal name.
The U.S. embassy in New Delhi referred inquiries to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, which mentioned it anticipated that any points concerning U.S. e-commerce corporations’ practices in India could be reviewed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) “with the identical stage of independence, transparency, and professionalism it has demonstrated up to now. “Spokespeople for Kerry, the USTR and Goyal didn’t reply to Reuters queries.
The Reuters report in February, primarily based on inside Amazon paperwork, revealed that the U.S. agency has for years given preferential therapy to a small group of sellers on its India platform, circumventing the nation’s robust international funding guidelines which can be geared toward defending small Indian brick-and-mortar retailers. The article stirred up weeks of controversy in India, sparking calls from merchants to ban Amazon.
The CCI mentioned in March that the story corroborated proof it had acquired in opposition to Amazon, whereas the Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial-crime combating company, requested Amazon for data and paperwork associated to the corporate’s Indian operations, Reuters has reported. The CCI enforces India’s antitrust legal guidelines.
‘SENSATIONALIST LANGUAGE’
In a March 16 e-mail to U.S. officers, together with on the USTR’s workplace, Ingeneri wrote, in an obvious reference to the February article, {that a} Reuters reporter had used “sensationalist language” and relied on Amazon’s “activity before 2018 that was aggressive but not illegal at the time.”
The subsequent sentence within the e-mail was redacted.In response to questions from Reuters, a spokeswoman for Amazon in India mentioned the corporate had no remark. Amazon has beforehand advised Reuters it “does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace,” and that it “treats all sellers in a good, clear, and non-discriminatory method.
“But inside Amazon paperwork present that the e-commerce large discounted its charges to sure sellers on its platform, and that a couple of dozen of Amazon’s greater than 400,000 sellers in early 2019 accounted for about two-thirds of the e-commerce web site’s on-line gross sales.
The be aware ready for Kerry summarized the Reuters story’s findings Among them: that Amazon senior govt Jay Carney had been suggested by colleagues in 2019 to not speak in confidence to India’s ambassador in Washington that two sellers on Amazon’s Indian web site accounted for a big chunk of its gross sales.
Amazon holds oblique fairness stakes in these sellers, From 2009 to 2011, Carney served as President Biden’scommunications director when Biden was vice chairman, earlier than occurring to function press secretary to President Barack Obama.
The be aware for Kerry recognized Carney as “Amazon Senior Vice President and former Obama Administration spokesman.
“Carney had no comment for this article, the Amazon spokeswoman said. Under the headline “If Asked: Allegations of Amazon E-Commerce Violations,” the be aware said: “We have seen a February 17 Reuters report raising concerns about U.S. e-commerce companies’ practices in India and note many of the allegations have been previously reviewed by the Competition Commission of India without any negative findings.” The e-mail with the be aware was marked “SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.”
“The Reuters article repeated prior allegations made by small traders,” the be aware said.
The partially redacted be aware additionally said that “since 2013, Amazon has invested over $5.5 billion in India, employs 100,000 Indians, and helps 400,000 distributors on its market.
“India’s strict international funding guidelines for e-commerce have prompted friction between Washington and New Delhi, and annoyed U.S. companies with on-line companies in India, reminiscent of Amazon and Walmart Inc. The CCI in January 2020 launched a probe into Amazon on allegations it was favoring sure sellers, however the investigation has been on maintain as the corporate mounted a court docket problem.
A separate antitrust grievance by a gaggle of on-line sellers filed in opposition to Amazon is presently pending overview by theCCI.