President Trump seeks investigation into meat packers
On Nov. 7, the White House announced President Donald Trump had asked the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the nation’s largest meat packers—namely JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef—for corruption as beef prices continue to stay at all-time high levels.
“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,” Trump said in a social media post. “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. Action must be taken immediately to protect consumers, combat illegal monopolies, and ensure these corporations are not criminally profiting at the expense of the American people. I am asking the DOJ to act expeditiously. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
A shift in blame?
Trump recently sparked debate among the cattle industry with his idea to import more Argentinian beef to try to lower the price of meat at the grocery store for consumers. He later doubled down on his desire to interfere with the cattle market with a social media post that angered many beef producers.
“The cattle ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% tariff on Brazil,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years—terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”
The sentiments did not sit well with the beef industry, but now, it seems Trump’s target has shifted from cattle producers to the packers that actually sell the meat through retail markets to consumers. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated in a social media post that Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater were heading up a probe into the “Big Four” meat packers. Slater leads the Justice Department’s antitrust division, which investigates price-fixing and other monopoly practices.
According to the White House’s press release, JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef, control 85% of the U.S. beef processing, which is a noteworthy increase from the 36% they controlled in 1980. Two of them, JBS and National Beef, are foreign-owned or have significant foreign ownership.
Although they deny any wrongdoing, Tyson, Cargill, and JBS have all paid tens of millions of dollars to settle several lawsuits that have accused the beef processing giants of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply.
Lacey Vilhauer can be reached at 620-227-1871 or [email protected].
(Photo by James Robertson via Unsplash.)
