The Trump administration is weighing in on allegations from Texas and other states that three of the world’s largest investment management companies are manipulating the energy market to limit domestic coal production.
In a court filing Thursday, the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission argued that federal antitrust law allows a federal court in Texas to consider how BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard were allegedly using their influence as shareholders to reduce coal production below competitive levels.
The DOJ and FTC argued that the judge in the case should “disregard” the asset managers’ “misstatements of law.”
President Donald Trump has made the revival of the nation’s declining coal industry a key piece of his broader “energy dominance” agenda. BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard argue their actions have not contributed to harming the industry and that there is no evidence of any agreement or conspiracy to reduce coal production.
