On its way out the door, the Biden administration has set ablaze the Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors, withdrawing this safe harbor companies have relied on since 2000 to minimize the risk of engaging in anticompetitive behavior.

The retreat by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division late Wednesday may be moot, to some extent. That's because the incoming Trump administration is likely to recast many of Biden's policies, anyway, and put a leash on its particularly hostile antitrust enforcement of recent years.