The Right to Repair movement is getting an important new ally: The Biden administration.
On Tuesday, the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed President Biden is preparing an executive order on “competition.” At the same time, the Biden administration has directed the US Department of Agriculture to develop new rules that’ll grant farmers the “right to repair their own equipment how they like.”
According to Bloomberg, the upcoming executive order will also direct the Federal Trade Commission to craft new rules to stop manufacturers, including phone makers, from imposing onerous repair restrictions on their products.
The news represents a significant win for Right to Repair advocates. For years now, the movement has been calling on electronics vendors, including Apple, to make their products easier to fix, citing the benefits to consumers and to the environment. However, many consumers must instead go through official repair services from the tech companies, which can cost more.
Farmers have been among the biggest supporters in the Right to Repair movement, and point to company John Deere as a major offender for blocking access to the software and tools needed to fix their tractors. Those tractors can cost $800,000, but John Deere has argued the farmers don’t own the software onboard, citing intellectual property laws.
According to Bloomberg, the scope of Biden’s upcoming executive order will be up to the FTC to decide. In May, the commission itself signaled it's already mulling a crackdown on repair restrictions across the industry. In a 56-page report sent to Congress, the FTC found "scant evidence to support manufacturers’ justifications for repair restrictions."
Last month, US Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY) introduced federal right-to-repair legislation.