As Grocery Prices Skyrocket, Schumer Slams Trump Admin
For Immediate Release
Date: February 19, 2026
As Grocery Prices Skyrocket, Schumer Slams Trump Admin For Ignoring Concerning Trend Of Foreign Influence And Consolidation In Agriculture And Food Markets That Raise Costs For American Families And Hurt American Farmers And Ranchers
Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged the Trump administration to investigate market consolidation and other anti-competitive practices of foreign corporations in America’s agriculture and food markets, slamming the administration for ignoring how this can drive up food prices, cut into already slim profit margins for farmers and ranchers, and threaten our national security.
Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged Agriculture Secretary Rollins, Treasury Secretary Bessent, and Attorney General Bondi to take immediate action to address the growing control that foreign corporations, including those tied to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other adversaries, have over America’s food supply. Leader Schumer slammed the administration for ignoring how acquisitions, market concentration, and other tactics used by foreign corporations affect American consumers, farmers, and ranchers, from higher prices at the grocery store to higher costs of doing business.
“The price of groceries have skyrocketed due to Trump tariff taxes and erratic economic policies – and now, costs threaten to go up even higher as the administration ignores how foreign-owned corporations have rigged markets, raising food prices for consumers and hurting American farmers and ranchers that are already struggling from Trump’s trade war. The result is consumers spend more for less, farmers and ranchers’ profit margins shrink, and our food supply is put at risk when foreign corporations monopolize more and more of America’s agriculture and food sector,” said Leader Schumer. “We need to get serious about this growing threat of market consolidation, including by corporations from China, and stop allowing mega corporations, including foreign owned ones, to profit from a rigged market at the expense of American families, farmers, and ranchers. Senate Democrats will keep fighting to lower costs for working Americans.”
Leader Schumer notes that major segments of our agricultural and food sector are now increasingly controlled by foreign corporations from agricultural inputs to meatpacking and food processing, and now even an increasing share of egg production. Consolidation in our markets remains a big problem for higher prices faced by American families and decreased profits for American farmers and ranchers. This problem is compounded when the consolidation happens by foreign-owned corporations, especially those from countries of concern like China and Russia. Having adversaries control key agricultural inputs and processes needed for our food markets means that our food supply is vulnerable to intentional disruptions. The lack of action by the Trump administration to address this growing problem of market consolidation, including by foreign-owned corporations in places like China, means rigged markets that raise costs and leave our food supply at the whims of other countries that do not share the best interests of the U.S.
Specifically, Leader Schumer is asking the administration to bring enforcement actions against corporations that are behaving in an anticompetitive manner; investigate anticompetitive tactics and any security vulnerabilities caused by foreign ownership of agricultural inputs; accelerate the work of the 2025 food supply chain EO with actual accountability for results; review previously approved foreign acquisitions in the agricultural sector; and investigate closures of processing facilities and their effect on food prices.
“American families need relief at the grocery store, and rural America deserves free markets where farmers and ranchers can earn a fair return. Competition protects consumers from price hikes and producers from being strong-armed, all of which keeps our food system resilient,” concludes Schumer. “Food security is national security, and the federal government should treat it that way, starting with strong enforcement of the laws already on the books.”
The full text of the letter can be seen here and below.
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Dear Secretary Rollins, Attorney General Bondi, and Secretary Bessent:
I write to express serious concern about the growing control that foreign corporations, including those tied to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other adversaries, have over America’s food supply, and urge you to take immediate action to protect families, farmers, and our national security. Consumers are paying more at the grocery store, while farmers and ranchers take home less, weakening rural communities. The result is that consumers and farmers both struggle to make ends meet while large global corporations profit from a rigged market.
A major driver of this rigged market is a small number of foreign-owned corporations that now dominate key segments of the American agriculture and food sector, from agricultural inputs to meatpacking, and use that dominance to squeeze both ends of the supply chain. This is not just an economic problem. When foreign adversaries hold significant power over what Americans eat and what American farmers need to grow, food security becomes a national security vulnerability. Market concentration in processing, distribution, and the sale of key agricultural inputs means fewer real competitors, fewer choices, and less bargaining power for the people who produce our food and the families who buy it. Consolidation also makes it easier for dominant players to coordinate or impose take-it-or-leave-it terms. Antitrust and fair competition laws exist precisely to prevent these outcomes. It is your job to enforce these laws vigorously and act in the interests of everyday Americans.
The meat packing industry tells the story clearly. Just four firms control roughly 85 percent of U.S. beef processing, and two of them, JBS and National Beef, are subsidiaries of Brazilian conglomerates. JBS, one of the largest meatpackers in the country, has paid over $200 million in settlements across multiple federal price-fixing lawsuits involving beef and pork, while consumers have watched ground beef prices climb more than 13 percent in a single year. Beyond meatpacking, JBS-affiliated entities are also now utilizing these anti-competition tactics to acquire more U.S. egg production capacity. Meanwhile, Smithfield Foods, which is owned by China’s WH Group, holds a dominant position in U.S. pork processing and in January announced a $450 million acquisition of Nathan’s Famous, one of America’s most iconic food brands. When a company controlled by a Chinese parent corporation is buying up beloved American brands while families struggle to afford groceries, something is fundamentally wrong.
The problem extends beyond processing. Foreign corporations also control critical agricultural inputs that American farmers depend on, including fertilizers, seeds, and machinery. Syngenta Group, a major supplier of agricultural chemicals, seeds, and biotechnology, is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. A company that ultimately answers to the Chinese Communist Party sits at the center of supply chains that American farmers depend on, which is a strategic vulnerability that would be exposed in any serious disruption to the U.S.-China relationship. At the same time, Russian fertilizer exports to the United States have increased even as Russia wages an illegal war in Ukraine, making American food production increasingly dependent on an adversary for the basic inputs needed to grow crops. This dependence on foreign-controlled inputs discourages American investment and innovation and puts our agricultural supply chain at the mercy of governments that do not share our interests.
The Administration has made no shortage of announcements on this issue, from the President directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate meatpacking companies and signing an Executive Order establishing food supply chain task forces, to Secretary Rollins launching a National Farm Security Action Plan to much fanfare. However, months after the President’s directive to DOJ, not a single enforcement action has been brought. No company has been charged. No acquisition has been blocked. Indeed, even as the Trump administration talks tough on consolidation, it actually revoked the Biden administration’s competition executive order. The Trump administration has done nothing to call out Republicans in Congress who have sought to defund Packers and Stockyards Act enforcement. The USDA has also quietly canceled antimonopoly partnerships. Empty promises won’t feed families and help pay their bills or keep farmers and ranchers from bankruptcy.
Your departments have clear authority to act, and the public expects you to use it. The Department of Justice has the tools to investigate and prosecute collusion, price-fixing, and monopolistic conduct under the Sherman Act, and to challenge unlawful acquisitions under Section 7 of the Clayton Act. The Department of Agriculture has specific responsibilities under the Packers and Stockyards Act to protect producers and consumers from unfair, deceptive, unjustly discriminatory, and anticompetitive practices in the livestock, meat, and poultry sectors. And the Department of the Treasury, through CFIUS, is positioned to assess whether certain foreign acquisitions or investments present national security risks, including risks tied to the supply chain American agriculture. Despite these authorities, costs continue to rise and families and farmers are left to pay the price.
Your departments must act. I urge you to use the authorities available to you and take immediate action to:
- Bring enforcement actions under the Clayton Act, Sherman Act, and the Packers and Stockyards Act against corporations, including foreign-owned corporations like JBS in meat processing and now egg production and WH Group’s Smithfield Foods, where evidence of anticompetitive conduct warrants it.
- Investigate and bring enforcement actions to address anticompetitive corporate tactics and potential security vulnerabilities caused by foreign ownership of agricultural inputs.
- Accelerate your work under the President’s December 2025 food supply chain Executive Order, publicly release your findings, and testify before Congress on the results and your plans for enforcement.
- Review previously approved foreign acquisitions in the agricultural and food sector through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to determine whether existing national security agreements are being violated, and where violations are found, impose penalties and pursue remedies to protect our national security.
- Determine whether the sudden closure of processing facilities that would enable more beef production that could lower prices for consumers is being driven by corporate efforts to constrain market access for ranchers or maintain artificially high prices that harm families struggling to afford groceries.
American families need relief at the grocery store, and rural America deserves free markets where farmers and ranchers can earn a fair return. Competition protects consumers from price hikes and producers from being strong-armed, all of which keeps our food system resilient. Food security is national security, and the federal government should treat it that way, starting with strong enforcement of the laws already on the books.
I look forward to your prompt response.
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