WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation.
The Republican president announced the move on social media days after his party suffered losses in key elections in which the winning Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the public’s concerns about the cost of living. But experts said it’s unlikely that an investigation would result in lower prices at grocery stores, and a trade group representing meat packers said they’re not to blame.
Trump did not present evidence for his claims, writing on social media that “I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”
He said he was taking the action to help ranchers, who were recently angered by his suggestion that the U.S. would buy Argentine beef to bring down stubbornly high prices for American consumers.
“We will always protect our American Ranchers, and they are being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers, who artificially inflate prices, and jeopardize the security of our Nation’s food supply,” Trump said.
Why beef prices have climbed
Beef prices have soared to record levels in part after drought and years of low prices led to the smallest U.S. herd size in decades. Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, have also curbed imports.
Meanwhile, demand for beef remains strong. Prices are high because consumers want to eat it, and they’re willing and able to pay for it, said Glynn Tonsor, who leads the Meat Demand Monitor at Kansas State University.
Tonsor said the ownership mix in the meat packing industry has not changed significantly in the past four years.
Concentration in the meat packing business has been a longtime concern for farmers and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Four major meatpacking companies dominate the beef market in the United States.
There’s no evidence to back up claims that the big packers have undue market power and use it to drive up beef prices, said Derrell Peel, an agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University.
“The packing industry in this country has been investigated and researched for 50 years, and it’s been an issue for over a hundred years, at least, for some producers,” Peel said, expressing skepticism that consumers or producers will benefit from the investigation Trump announced.
“If the outcome is to break up the big packers, the outcome will be higher beef prices for consumers, and lower cattle prices for producers,” Peel said.
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