Justice Department Updates Collaboration With State Attorneys General on Review of Local Mergers
The Department of Justice on October 29 provided an update on the Antitrust Division's collaboration with state attorneys general regarding investigations of mergers with predominantly intrastate effects: since January 2026, the Division has partnered with the Attorneys General of California and Tennessee to enter into consent decrees with merging parties in the cement and asphalt industries, and has referred asphalt-market investigations in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey to those states' attorneys general, who subsequently reached settlements with the parties.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said principles of federalism guide the Department to use its resources on mergers with regional or national implications, though it will sometimes exercise discretion to investigate local transactions, including when there is an antitrust issue of national significance; for mergers of national importance, the Department will generally form its own views of the appropriate resolution, while it may partner with state enforcers who contribute distinctively to an investigation.
"In our federal system, federal and state law enforcers have different constituencies and distinct competencies. A constructive relationship between antitrust enforcers at both levels includes deferring to the agency of relative competence in matters that impact distinctly federal or local interests," said G. Charles Beller, Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division. "The Antitrust Division welcomes leadership from state enforcers in transactions that implicate uniquely local interests, such as when the state is a purchaser that could suffer direct injury or when potential effects on competition are limited to a single state."
The Department also listed among its collaboration work since January 2026 jointly investigating local and multistate mergers with state attorneys general where both federal and state involvement is justified, and consulting and working closely with state attorneys general in other merger investigations involving local matters.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于萨克拉门托的加州州议会大厦（素材库 california 固定图）。GSM 素材库。 / The California State Capitol in Sacramento. GSM asset library (california pack).
