California has accused Amazon of engaging in price-fixing by pressuring major brands like Levi's and Hanes to raise prices on competing retail sites. The state's antitrust lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court in 2022, alleges Amazon harmed competition and increased consumer costs online. The case is scheduled for trial next year.

Newly unsealed court filings reveal how Amazon pressured brands to intervene when competitors offered lower prices. In one instance, Hanes reportedly asked Target and Walmart to increase prices after Amazon flagged them. The filings show Amazon employees directly contacting brand representatives with links to lower-priced products on rival sites, demanding price adjustments or threatening to delist items.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta described the evidence as unusually explicit price-fixing. Amazon maintains it offers the lowest prices and denies wrongdoing, calling the filing a distraction from the case's weakness. The Federal Trade Commission and 17 states filed similar antitrust charges against Amazon in 2023, accusing the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly that resulted in artificially higher prices. The e-commerce giant, valued at $2.66 trillion, faces mounting regulatory scrutiny over its market power and pricing practices.