NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday sued PepsiCo in a last-minute blitz of lawsuits before the end of the Joe Biden administration, alleging that the beverage giant forced many consumers to pay higher prices by giving Walmart unfair pricing advantages.

The FTC, whose legal filing was sealed, said PepsiCo provided promotional pricing deals to a single "big-box" customer. Walmart was the recipient of those incentives, reported The Wall Street Journal about the development.

The agency said PepsiCo didn't give the same pricing incentives to smaller retail outlets, which "led to inflated prices for American families."

PepsiCo disputed the allegations. Walmart declined to comment. Walmart is PepsiCo's largest retail customer. Including Walmart affiliates like Sam's Club, sales to Walmart represented 14 percent of PepsiCo's 2023 revenue.

"PepsiCo's practices are in line with industry norms and we do not favor certain customers by offering discounts or promotional support to some customers and not others," PepsiCo said.

The FTC's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, is premised on a decades-old law that forbids suppliers from selling goods at different prices to retailers. The statute, which dates from the 1930s, sought to preserve a level playing field between small retailers and bigger sellers such as grocery chains. Enditem

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