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Several members of the US congress have called on Japan to investigate what they’re calling “discriminatory” trade practices from Sony. Letters from both Democrats and Republicans have accused the PlayStation manufacturer of breaching Japanese antitrust laws, as well as international trade agreements.

According to Axios, four House Republicans, including Carol Miller and Mike Carey, signed a letter sent to US Trade Representative Katherine Tai urging the country to investigate Sony’s business practices. The letter claims that the Japanese government is failing to prosecute Sony over antitrust issues, and that in doing so is preventing Microsoft’s expansion in the region.

“Today, we write to bring to your attention the imbalanced Japanese video game market, which we are concerned may be a result of a discriminatory trade practice that could violate the spirit of the US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement,” the Republican letter reads.

It continues: “The Japanese government’s effective policy of non-prosecution when it comes to Sony appears to be a serious barrier to US exports, with real impacts for Microsoft and the many US game developers and publishers that sell globally but see their earnings in Japan depressed by these practices.”

Six Democrats also penned a letter to Tai, which reportedly covered many of the same grounds. All six Democrats represent the state of Washington, where Microsoft and its Xbox subsidiary are headquartered.

It comes just days after Washington Senator Maria Cantwell probed the issue during a Senate Finance Committee hearing. At the time, she claimed that “Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market”, and accused Japan’s government of allowing Sony to engage in anti-competitive conduct.

The main issue for these lawmakers seems to be exclusivity contracts signed by Sony and third-party developers and publishers, such as recent deals over Final Fantasy 16, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and more. They seem to be claiming that deals such as these prevent Microsoft from competing in Japan, by blocking off content that traditionally performs well in the country from competing platforms.

It’s a reasonable argument on its face, but it falls apart a bit when you realize that these kinds of games are also popular in the west, and Xbox is still doing pretty well over here. It also doesn’t take Nintendo into account, which is very much the market leader in the console space in Japan, even if it’s not technically “high-end”.

The news comes as Microsoft is facing scrutiny from competition regulators around the world over its attempted $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It got one step closer to closing that deal earlier this week, after the CMA softened its position on the deal and conceded it wouldn’t stifle competition — at least in the console gaming space.

Assuming it gets the all-clear from regulators, the deal is expected to close around the middle of the year.