WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump A foreign-owned meat packing company was accused of carjacking on Friday. beef price The United States has requested the Department of Justice to begin an investigation.
The Republican president announced the move on social media days after the party. suffered a defeat in a major election There, the winning Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the public’s concerns about the cost of living. But experts said the investigation was unlikely to lower prices at grocery stores, and a trade group representing meat packers said they were not to blame.
Trump offered no evidence for his claims, writing on social media: “I have asked the Department of Justice to immediately begin an investigation into meat packing companies that are driving up the price of beef through illegal collusion, price manipulation, and price manipulation.”
He said he is taking action to help ranchers. I got angry at his suggestion recently. the US would do that buy argentinian beef To lower stubbornly high prices for American consumers.
“We will always defend America’s ranchers. They are held accountable for the actions of most foreign meat processors who artificially inflate prices and jeopardize the security of our nation’s food supply,” President Trump said.
Why beef prices have soared
beef prices have soared The record levels were driven in part by drought and years of low prices. US herd size is smallest in decades. President Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, are also curbing imports.
Meanwhile, demand for beef remains strong. Prices are high because consumers want to eat it and are willing and able to pay for it, said Glynn Tonsor, director of the meat demand monitor at Kansas State University.
Tonsor said the composition of ownership in the meat packaging industry has not changed significantly over the past four years.
Concentrating on meat packaging has long been a concern for farmers and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Four large meat packaging companies dominate the U.S. beef market.
Derrell Peel, an agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University, said there is no evidence to support claims that big packers have unfair market power and are using it to drive up beef prices.
“The packaging industry in this country has been studied for 50 years, and for at least some producers, it’s been a problem for more than 100 years,” Peele said, expressing skepticism that the research announced by President Trump would benefit consumers and producers.
“If the result is the dismantling of the big packers, it will mean higher beef prices for consumers and lower cattle prices for producers,” Mr Peel said.
Meat packers say they’re in trouble due to rising prices
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said Friday that he, along with Republican Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Tim Sheehy of Montana, visited the White House earlier in the day to discuss the recent volatility in the beef market with President Trump. Marin said President Trump has agreed to let the Justice Department review the issue.
Marin accused meat processors of a 2019 antitrust lawsuit against large meat processors, saying “we’re seeing exactly the same developments unfold again.”
JBS, that is Based in Brazil, is the nation’s largest beef producer and the nation’s second-largest chicken and pork producer. Half of the annual revenue from americawhere it is Over 72,000 employees.
The company has faced price-fixing fees before. In 2022, JBS will $52.5 million settlement Grocers and wholesalers accused JBS, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and other companies of collaborating to suppress the number of cows slaughtered to drive up beef prices.
JBS admitted no wrongdoing as part of the settlement. A message seeking comment was left with JBS USA on Friday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (D) last week called on the administration to reopen an investigation into meat packers that was launched during President Trump’s first term. Kramer’s office said he has been pushing for such an investigation since March 2020.
The Meat Institute, an industry group representing JBS and other meat producers, said the industry is struggling with cattle prices despite record prices for U.S. beef.
“Due to low supply and strong demand for beef, beef packers have been operating at a loss for more than a year,” Julie Anna Potts, president and CEO of the Meat Institute, said in a statement. “The beef industry is highly regulated and market transactions are transparent. Government-proprietary data from the USDA confirms that the beef packaging sector is experiencing devastating losses, which experts predict will continue through 2026.”
President Trump’s accusations have reignited the bipartisan presidential fight against soaring food prices.
Then-President Joe Biden discussed reduction efforts with independent farmers and ranchers. grocery prices By increasing competition within the meat industry. And then-Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump won reelection last year and defeated, vowed to use the campaign to crack down on “corporate” food producers and big supermarkets. price gouging”
____
Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers DeAnn Durbin in Detroit, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report.
