SpringfieldNewsSun.com

WASHINGTON — Ohio lawmakers urged a House committee Tuesday to give close scrutiny to a proposal that would allow United Parcel Service to fly DHL's express delivery packages, saying it would drive up prices for consumers and decimate the town of Wilmington, Ohio and southwest Ohio's economy.

While UPS and DHL have referred to the proposal as a simple transaction that would make UPS a vendor for the German-owned DHL, lawmakers used stronger terms in their testimony before the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Sept. 9.

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville called the deal a "de facto merger," and said the transaction will make dealing with DHL akin to dealing with UPS.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, meanwhile, said were the deal to go through, DHL would be effectively forfeiting the promises it made to the City of Wilmington and the state of Ohio. She also called the proposal a merger.

"This deal is being constructed as an attempt to escape regulatory oversight to expedite the consolidation of an already heavily consolidated industry," she said.

Turner, meanwhile, pointed to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporting that UPS was considering acquiring TNT, a European express shipping company. Such an acquisition would add a 15 percent market share to UPS's European express shipping business and would make them the top express shipper in Europe. Currently, DHL, UPS and TNT are the top shippers in Europe. Turner argued that if UPS acquires TNT, and this merger goes through, it will virtually eliminate all competition.

"These consolidations are just the beginning," Turner said.

Turner was one of a handful of Ohio lawmakers to sign onto a letter earlier this year urging the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct an antitrust investigation on the proposal.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said he is worried that current law would only permit antitrust review after the agreement went into effect and "after the likely competitive harm has permanently changed the competitive landscape."

Were the deal to go through, Voinovich said, ABX and ASTAR, which currently fly DHL packages, would likely scale back quickly. "If this occurs, it would be nearly impossible to return the market to the situation as it exists today," he said.