Brazil's Chamber Approves Digital Platform Competition Bill Amid US Embassy Lobbying

Brazil's Chamber of Deputies Economic Development Committee approved a bill that transfers oversight of digital platform competition to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade). The proposal defines “professional users” such as marketplace merchants, app developers and advertisers, allowing them to file complaints with Cade. If evidence of anti‑competitive conduct is found, Cade can open an administrative proceeding, issue remedies and impose fines up to 20% of the company's revenue in the affected market. The measure also creates a special supervisory unit within Cade to monitor systemic relevance, free competition and consumer protection in digital markets.

Separately, the United States embassy met with the bill’s rapporteur, Deputy Aliel Machado, at the request of major tech firms. U.S. officials, including economic counselor Matthew Lowe, asked for a postponement of the plenary vote, arguing that the companies need more time to discuss the legislation. The meeting reflects lobbying efforts by big‑tech companies such as Amazon and Google, which have not publicly taken a position, while OpenAI, Microsoft and Apple did not respond to inquiries.