Newly exposed emails show how Google and Amazon used their access to the Office of the US Trade Representative as they tried to undermine foreign regulations, including efforts to protect traditional media outlets.
In May 2023, Google attempted to engage the USTR in its fight to defeat, or at least weaken, Canada’s Online News Act. which took effect last DecemberThe law requires Google and Facebook parent Meta to pay publishers for the right to display their content online. In response, Meta pulled out of Canada.
That month, Google’s trade policy chief Nicholas Bramble requested a meeting on “upcoming developments on Canada” with three USTR employees – Andrea Boron, senior director of services and digital trade, Deputy Assistant Trade Representative Rob Tanner and Canada director Randall Oliver. Emailed to.
The email shows that USTR accepted the meeting request, which took place just four business days later. On June 5, USTR’s Boron thanked Google employees for their time and asked them to share “Google’s Public Comments” detailing objections and concerns about the Online News Act.
Bramble responded with a link to a “list of key concerns and proposed amendments” that Google provided to Canadian MPs.
The private email exchange provides a glimpse of what the group describes as a “shadow war” by Big Tech firms to “hijack US trade policy” for their own benefit — with the main federal agency, Demand ” “Revolving door” by maintaining relationships, Progress, a nonprofit advocacy group, said in a report over email.
The Canadian documents included a transcript of public testimony in which Google vice-president of news Richard Gringas warned that the company would “reconsider” offering news content in Canada if the law went into effect. Google also made an offer Opinion piece by Financial Times which argued in favor of “other, less confrontational solutions”.
The messages were part of a series of emails exchanged between Google and Amazon executives and USTR officials from May 2023 to April 2024. They were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Demand Progress and provided exclusively to The Post.
The group said, “We cannot allow giant corporations to take over the government, sideline the Senate-confirmed United States Trade Representative, and replace policy priorities that serve us all with new priorities that serve them and their They don’t serve anyone except their shareholders.”
In an email from September last year, Google’s Bramble asked USTR if the company could provide a “quick update” on the Canadian law. A day later, USTR’s Boron returned a phone call and said she was “very much looking forward to hearing from you.”
After pushing tooth and nail to weaken or kill the bill and even threatening to remove news content altogether, Google finally reached a last-minute deal with Canada last November and agreed to pay $74 million to media outlets.
Google won a concession by securing the right to negotiate with a consortium of local news outlets rather than each of them individually. Google’s chief legal officer Kent Walker won the victory, saying he was “pleased that the Government of Canada is committed to addressing our core issues.”
Asked about the emails, Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in a statement, “We regularly interact with government officials on a range of issues, especially those that could harm American consumers and interests. “
“Publicly and privately, we have shared our concerns about foreign government policies that harm American companies, and we will continue to do so,” Castañeda said.
A USTR spokesperson said the work of agency head Katherine Tai and her team “reflects their unwavering commitment to workers and standing up for their rights over the past 3.5 years.”
“The Biden-Harris administration’s trade agenda is specifically designed to give workers a seat at the table after decades of being ignored,” the spokesperson said.
Watchdogs warn that Big Tech is using its influence over the USTR and other federal agencies to help shape a liberal regulatory policy model both in the US and abroad that protects its own interests at the expense of smaller competitors. Does.
According to critics, if successful, this effort could undermine any future efforts by Congress or individual states to pass antitrust laws.
Dan Gelden, former chief of staff to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said, “American businesses are not monolithic, and the USTR often has to choose between advancing the interests of American monopolists and advancing the interests of small companies and consumers.” Does matter.” ,
Elsewhere, in August 2023, USTR’s Danielle Fumagalli emailed Amazon and Google employees in Japan to give their opinion on a proposal aimed at helping domestic cloud-computing firms compete for government contracts and explained that was “How problematic will this change be for you.”
Fumagalli’s email to Amazon appears to be addressed to Mary Thornton, who at the time was head of trade and export control policy for the ecommerce giant’s cloud unit. Before joining Amazon, Thornton served as a director at USTR.
The warm relationship between Amazon and the federal agency was also on display during an exchange in May 2023.
USTR’s Boron emailed Kate Kalutkiewicz, Amazon’s head of U.S. trade policy, directly to set up a call ahead of a meeting between the agency and Brazilian telecommunications regulator ANATEL.
Before joining Amazon, Kalutkiewicz served as USTR’s director for Brazil.
At the time, ANATEL was considering regulations that would impact Amazon and other Big Tech platforms.
“It would be helpful if you have something to share,” Boron wrote.
When contacted for comment, an Amazon spokesperson said that “Like many other U.S. companies with significant domestic investment and job creation, we advocate on issues that matter to our customers and our sellers, and that includes “This includes maintaining open lines of communication with all authorities.” levels of government.”
Emily Peterson-Kassin, director of corporate power at Demand Progress, said the messages show that Google and other Big Tech firms have access to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative at a level that other policy advocates do not.
“It’s their job to work for the public good,” Peterson-Cassin said. “It’s not their job to work for the good of Big Tech.”
Although their names do not appear on the email threads, Google currently employs several high-level policy staffers who previously served as U.S. Trade Representatives.
For example, Karan Bhatia served as Deputy US Trade Representative from 2005 to 2007 before taking over as Google’s head of public policy and government relations in 2018.
last November, The insider told Bhatia’s name appeared frequently in a separate batch of emails between Google and USTR – which also included messages related to the Online News Act.
This situation has drawn the attention of Congress.
In a letter dated April 2023 For Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, a group of Democratic lawmakers criticized efforts by “tech industry groups” by labeling the Online News Act as “illegal trade discrimination” during negotiations on an international trade agreement called the Indo-Pacific. Condemned it. Economic framework for prosperity.
According to Peterson-Kassin, since taking over as US Trade Representative in 2021, Tai has worked to counter the dynamics and “resist the forces that try to tilt trade policy in favor of big business.” Is doing”.
“This is exactly the kind of leadership we need moving forward,” Peterson-Kassin said.
Google and Amazon are Struggling to avoid regulatory action Which can overturn their business model on many fronts. Both companies faced unprecedented antitrust investigations in the US and abroad for their alleged efforts to strangle rivals, as well as legislative action in various countries aimed at reining in their dominance.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly On online search.
A separate Justice Department case Challenging Google’s dominance over digital advertising Closing arguments are scheduled for November.
