Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined a bipartisan coalition of 28 attorneys general, calling upon the 118th Congress to protect farmers and other consumers by passing expansive Right-to-Repair legislation targeting automobiles, agriculture equipment and digital electronic equipment.
Expansive Right-to-Repair legislation would ensure that small businesses can remain competitive against closed systems favored by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). It would also ensure that farmers can repair agricultural equipment at a reasonable cost and that consumers can repair electronics instead of replacing them, where that makes the most sense.
“The monopoly on repairs hurts consumers,” Nessel said. “Original Equipment Manufacturers restrict competition for repair services by limiting the availability of parts, making diagnostic software unavailable, or using adhesives that make parts difficult to replace, all of which can result in higher product and repair prices. I stand with my colleagues in asking Congress to pass Right-to-Repair legislation that not only protects consumers, put protects the laborers and farmers who help build and feed our nation.”
In the letter, Nessel and the attorneys general explain that vehicles, farm equipment and digital devices have become more technologically advanced and built with embedded electronics. OEMs often control access to these electronic parts, which creates an unfair restraint of trade and a monopoly on repair. This ultimately affects consumers by increasing the cost of repairs.
Nessel and the attorneys general encourage Congress to consider three pieces of proposed legislation from the 117th Congress that were never passed despite widespread public support for Right-to-Repair legislation:
The Fair Repair Act: Requires OEMs to make documentation, parts and tools available to independent repair providers and device owners to repair products, with exclusions for vehicles and medical devices.
The SMART Act: Limits liability for infringement of a design patent based on appearance for a part of a vehicle’s exterior and creates a sunset provision on a design patent for an exterior component if an otherwise infringing part is used to repair a vehicle.
The REPAIR Act: Requires OEMs to provide a vehicle’s owner with data related to diagnostics, repair, calibration and service through a standardized access platform. The bill would also prevent OEMs from mandating specific brands of parts, tools and equipment be used on a vehicle, absent a recall.
Joining Nessel in submitting the letter were the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Mariana Islands, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
