By Jody Godoy
(Reuters) -A proposal to require U.S. table saw manufacturers to use one company’s patented finger detection technology should be dropped along with more than 170 other regulations that hamper competition, President Donald Trump’s Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.
Under former President Joe Biden, the Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated in 2023 that the proposed rule would prevent or mitigate around 49,000 injuries a year. But the commission said it could also add hundreds of dollars to the price of saws.
The rule faced bipartisan pushback last year from lawmakers who cited the fact that the technology is owned by one manufacturer, saying this would make saws more expensive.
“The role of the federal government should be to combat monopolies, price-fixing, and other anticompetitive practices that hinder free market competition. Unfortunately, in many cases, federal regulations do the opposite,” said FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson.
In April, Trump ordered the FTC and Department of Justice’s antitrust division to review potentially anticompetitive regulations. While the review was ongoing, the CPSC announced last month that it would withdraw the proposed table saw rule.
The FTC on Wednesday said the Trump administration should also cut a Department of Transportation rule aimed at creating airport concession opportunities for women and minority-owned businesses. The DOT has already moved to undo that rule.
The FTC also opposed a rule that it said requires students to opt out of colleges and universities that automatically add the cost of textbooks to their tab.
The full list of regulations the FTC urged the Trump administration to scrap or modify was not publicly available on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy; Editing by David Gregorio)
Comments