Hunton Retail Law Resource

On April 3, the FTC published its Strategic Plan for the next five years. The Strategic Plan focuses on three main goals: (1) protecting Americans from unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the marketplace; (2) protecting Americans from unfair methods of competition, preventing illegal monopolies, and promoting competition; and (3) maximizing mission outcomes through operational excellence and efficiency. The FTC has established performance metrics to measure its enforcement success, including the number of orders enjoining unfair, deceptive, or other unlawful practices, the amount of money returned to the public or forwarded to the U.S. Treasury as a result of consumer protection enforcement actions, and the number of advocacy comments and amicus briefs submitted regarding competition related topics.  

The FTC’s 2026-2030 Strategic Plan returns its Mission Statement to generally track language that the Commission has used for decades: to vigorously enforce the law to protect Americans from anticompetitive, unfair, and deceptive business practices, without unduly burdening legitimate business activity. The FTC’s 2022-2026 Mission Statement omitted the phrase “without unduly burdening legitimate business activity,” which created a concern for companies that anticipated increased regulatory burdens. Public comments from the Chamber of Commerce and Competitive Enterprise Institute submitted for the FTC’s 2026-2030 Draft Strategic Plan applauded the FTC for targeting unlawful conduct “while safeguarding legitimate business practices that fuel innovation and competition.” 

1. Protecting Americans from Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices in the Marketplace. 

The FTC highlights unlawful telemarketing, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and privacy and data security as areas of prioritized enforcement. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson stated that protecting children online is “one of the most important consumer protection issues of our time.” In focusing enforcement efforts on unfair or deceptive acts, including COPPA violations, the FTC pledged to enhance protections for Americans by collaborating with domestic federal and state law enforcement, as well as international counterparts to identify cross-border fraud.  

2. Protecting Americans from Unfair Methods of Competition. 

The FTC is paying close attention to proposed and consummated mergers in the technology, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries. To do so, the Commission plans to leverage the HSR and Merger Guidelines to screen transactions more effectively. The FTC’s strategy to achieve this strategic goal includes being prepared to litigate matters when the parties propose ineffective or unenforceable remedies to resolve likely anticompetitive effects. 

3. Protecting Americans and Maximizing Mission Outcomes.

The agency is also focused on becoming more efficient to create a strong foundation for overall mission success. This includes implementing new technology like AI and big data analytics in the FTC’s everyday work.   

How Should Companies Respond?  

The FTC’s Strategic Plan has provided insight into its enforcement priorities over the next five years. Companies in the healthcare and technology industries can expect continued heightened scrutiny. In addition, companies should ensure they are compliant with COPPA. While much of the enforcement priorities should come as little surprise given the agency’s recent enforcement focuses on certain industries, the Commission’s pledge to work with other federal and state enforcers, as well as international enforcers, will augment the FTC’s enforcement capabilities moving forward.  

Hunton attorneys have long counseled clients on compliance with FTC regulations and HSR merger reviews. Companies should remain vigilant that their practices comply with the law.