USDA and DOJ take aim at meatpacker power

A news briefing from Farm Action’s policy team

USDA/DOJ press conference on food prices, Agri Stats lawsuit

What happened: USDA and DOJ held a joint press conference yesterday to discuss high consumer food prices, particularly beef, and the upcoming Agri Stats settlement. The administration blamed record high prices on Big Four meatpacker control of the market, and said that their antitrust investigation into the Big Four will bring consumer prices down. They also spoke about the expected settlement in the antitrust lawsuit against Agri Stats, who is alleged to have coordinated pricing among major pork and poultry producers. Peter Navarro, White House trade advisor, said the case will be “settled well or at trial” and will address bad actions taken by major industry players.

Source: Politico

Why it matters: The administration’s focus on meat industry price fixing heightens the importance of reaching an outcome in the Agri Stats case that holds industry accountable for anticompetitive activity. A weak settlement would reinforce a common theme in meatpacking price-fixing cases: penalties account for a fraction of the profits gained, companies consider it the cost of doing business, and the system stays rigged in their favor. It is imperative that a resolution to the Agri Stats case end anticompetitive information exchanges, protect farmers and consumers, and impose strong enough consequences that this case acts as a deterrent for other players hoping to engage in similar conduct.

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