U.S. defended Amazon after article showed company bypassed Indian law

Reuters has reported that the firm had favoured certain sellers on its website

U.S. officials rushed to defend Amazon’s business practices in India after Reuters reported in February that the company had favoured certain sellers on its website and bypassed local law that requires foreign e-commerce companies to treat all vendors equally, documents obtained by the news agency show. Emails obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) showed that U.S. officials prepared a note for John Kerry, a top envoy of President Joe Biden, about the February 17 Reuters report. The note, contained in an email dated February 18, said India’s antitrust watchdog had reviewed many such allegations against the U.S. e-commerce companies and found nothing wrong. Former U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry is in-charge of climate change policy. He was scheduled to speak that day with India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal. The U.S. government was concerned that Mr. Goyal would bring up the Reuters story, so it hastily drafted a note about the article in case he did, the emails show.