But, said Mr Maffei, the focus on antitrust has given the committee tools and confidence to investigate other abuses by shipping companies, now and in the future, when demand falls and companies may be tempted to try and adjust their freight rates. artificially high. “I think it has increased our credibility” with companies and discouraged anti-competitive behavior, he said.
Perhaps the government’s most persistent near-term focus has been on the meat industry. A report from the National Economic Council this month accused the largest meat processing companies of inflating prices to negate profits. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meat prices rose 16 percent in November compared to the same month last year.
“We see the dominant meat processors using their market power to make ever-increasing profit margins for themselves,” the report said. “Companies facing meaningful competition can’t do that because they would lose business to a competitor who hasn’t increased their margins.”
The North American Meat Institute, an industry lobbying group, denied the allegations, accusing the Biden administration of picking economic data. It said the White House overlooked record levels of demand for beef, pork and poultry.
“The White House Economic Council is once again demonstrating its ignorance about agricultural economics and the fundamentals of supply and demand,” said Julie Anna Potts, the president of the Meat Institute.
The clash between Mr. Biden and “Big Meat” has spotlighted Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, who held the same position during the eight years of the Obama administration. Some agricultural groups criticized Mr. Vilsack’s appointment for failing to mount an antitrust effort during his previous term in office and instead oversaw an era of consolidation in the agricultural sector, including the Monsanto-Bayer merger. After leaving the Obama administration, Mr. Vilsack became a lobbyist for the dairy industry.
Mr. Vilsack is now responsible for developing new rules to strengthen a law, the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, which is intended to protect farmers from anticompetitive practices in the meat industry and to promote ways for consumers to buy directly from farmers. to buy. But the rules, which were assigned as part of Mr Biden’s July executive order on competition, have yet to be announced. That has suggested that Mr. Vilsack is obligated to large farms.