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Japan's antitrust watchdog shapes 2026 agenda around SME protection, digital rules

By Sachiko Sakamaki ( December 30, 2025, 00:48 GMT | Comment) -- Japan’s antitrust watchdog is set to recalibrate its enforcement in 2026, stepping up protection for smaller businesses and policing Big Tech under a new smartphone law, as debates emerge over how competition policy should align with economic security priorities. Those twin enforcement priorities — tougher action against exploitative trading practices and tighter digital regulation — may increasingly intersect with a more sensitive challenge for the Japan Fair Trade Commission: how far it can preserve orthodox merger control amid growing economic security pressures.Japan’s antitrust watchdog is set to recalibrate its enforcement in 2026, stepping up protection for smaller businesses and policing Big Tech under a new smartphone law, as debates emerge over how competition policy should align with economic security priorities....

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