President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order to address “some of the most pressing competition problems across our economy”.
A recent announcement from the European Right to Repair movement, said that “while this is big news for repair, it remains an Executive Order (meaning not an actual regulation yet) and the President has not ordered the agencies under his direction to implement his ideas but only shared recommendations and suggestions.”
The order mainly focuses on agriculture and other industries such as car and home appliances but also touches on repair restrictions and “anti-competitive practices affecting the technology sector”.
While the European Commission is approaching the right to repair from the side of making products repairable when produced, the US seems to approach the same issue from a competition law point.
The Right to Repair movement’s comments ask for more to be done in Europe to ‘improve competitiveness in the repair sector, and show real leadership, now that the US President is taking these issues seriously.”
Earlier in June, Congressman Joe Morelle, representing the 25th District of New York, introduced legislation to guarantee consumers and small businesses a right to repair their own products by requiring manufacturers to make diagnostic repair information, parts, and tools readily available.
