Antitrust is a Main Street Issue
The Main Street Competition Coalition (MSCC) is non-partisan coalition of independent businesses and agriculture producers fighting to restore competitive markets across the American economy. We speak for the Main Street economy, not dominant corporations who stifle competition with unchecked market power. And we’re just getting started.
MSCC’s work is supported by Center Market Strategies.
**Join us May 14th in Washington, D.C. for our official launch event
Market power abuses go far beyond Big Tech.
Independent businesses across the economy face unchecked consolidation, exclusionary practices, and vertical integration that squeezes out competitors – yet most have nowhere to turn for advocacy. The MSCC exists to fill that gap: a permanent, nonpartisan platform giving Main Street businesses a vehicle to organize, advocate, and push for market fairness at every level of government.
We advocate fearlessly for independent businesses – naming names and calling out abuses – while providing organizational insulation so members can participate without fear of retaliation. Our cross-industry coalition is organizing advocacy and enforcement across food and agriculture, pharmacy and healthcare, retail and e-commerce, and legal reform. When grocers, pharmacists, farmers, and other Main Street businesses speak together, policymakers pay attention. Every business that joins strengthens the coalition for all.
Shared Agenda
Dominant firms control supply chains and markets, while laws and enforcement lag. Independent businesses and farmers buy from few suppliers, sell into few markets, and face rules shaped by big competitors. MSCC wants structural fixes across all sectors: fully fund antitrust enforcement at federal and state levels, require competition in government rules and buying, protect the right of independent businesses to seek relief for antitrust harms, preserve lawful financing mechanisms that enable smaller market participants to pursue meritorious claims, and strengthen protections for whistleblowers and businesses facing retaliation for challenging anticompetitive conduct.
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Agriculture
U.S. farmers and ranchers face growing harm from concentrated market power. A few firms now control seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and equipment, reducing choices and raising input costs. Producers have been affected by manufacturer limits on repairs and software access, forcing costly service contracts. A small set of buyers at the retail level affect farmgate prices, weakening farmers’ bargaining power. This consolidation shifts risk and profit away from producers and concentrates decision-making. MSCC advocates for competitive input markets, a strong right-to-repair, and genuine marketing choices so farms and ranches can thrive.
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Healthcare & Pharmacy
A few large healthcare conglomerates now control too much of the patient-care chain. Insurers own PBMs, and PBMs own pharmacies, specialty services, and physician groups, allowing them to set patient costs, pharmacy payments, and which rivals can compete. Independent pharmacists, providers, and patients suffer. MSCC fights to restore competition by enforcing antitrust rules against PBM steering and self-dealing, reviewing vertical integration, and protecting community pharmacies and independent providers.
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Retail & E-Commerce
Main Street retailers and online sellers face the same problem: big companies use their size to demand low prices, special deals, and control the marketplace. Online platforms also compete with the sellers they host by copying products, rigging search results, and taking data. That creates a two-tier economy where the biggest players set the rules. MSCC fights back with Robinson-Patman enforcement against powerful buyers, rules to stop platforms favoring themselves, and stronger protections against coercive contracts that trap independent businesses.
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Alcohol Beverages
Producers make alcohol, wholesalers distribute it, and retailers sell it. That three-tier system enables craft brewers, indie distillers, family wineries, package stores, independent distributors, and local bars to compete. Now national retail chains platforms use buying power to coerce preferential treatment that independent players can’t obtain. MSCC defends the three-tier system and opposes buyer coerced discrimination.
Support the Coalition
Join Us
The Main Street Competition Coalition is open to trade associations, businesses, agriculture producers, legal practitioners, academics, and anyone committed to restoring competitive markets in America. We offer multiple levels of participation, from general membership to leadership roles. To inquire further, please contact us.
Stay in the Fight
Fill out this form to register your interest in joining or participating in the Main Street Competition Coalition.
Members
News & Media
Research & Resources
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Atlanta Fed: Geospatial Heterogeneity in Inflation: A Market Concentration Story
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta research finds that lower-income communities face significantly higher food inflation — driven by greater retail market concentration and fewer competitors. From 2006–2020, poorer metro areas saw cumulative food inflation nearly 9 percentage points higher than wealthier ones. Read More
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American Economic Journal: The Evolution of US Retail Concentration
Census data confirms retail concentration is rising at both the national and local level — and it's hitting consumers' wallets. Increasing local market concentration explains up to one-third of the rise in retail profit margins across the U.S. Read More
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USDA: Competition and Fair Practices in Meat Merchandising
USDA's interim investigation found that dominant retailers, food service distributors, and meatpackers use excessive fees, preferential pricing, and anticompetitive arrangements that squeeze out independent competitors across the meat supply chain. Read More