Washington (AP) — President Joe Biden met virtually with independent farmers and ranchers on Monday to discuss initiatives to reduce. Food price By intensifying competition within the meat industry, his administration Fighting inflation..
“Uncompetitive capitalism is not capitalism-it is exploitation,” Biden said.
Higher-than-expected inflation hampered Biden’s agenda, undermined his reputation for public approval, and fed and prompted Republican attacks. Senator Joe Manchin, DW.Va.Citing higher prices as a reason to set aside the Democratic President’s tax, social and economic programs. November consumer prices 6.8% increase Last 12 months — Highest in 39 years.
For food costs, Biden July presidential order This urged the Department of Agriculture to more actively investigate possible violations of the 1921 Packers and Stockyard Act designed to ensure fair competition and protect consumers. rice field. Meat prices have risen 16% from a year ago, and beef prices have risen 20.9%.
The president said the higher prices were the subject of frustration at his own kitchen table. His wife Jill was talking with her sister and friends on Sunday about $ 5 burger meat per pound compared to less than $ 4 before the pandemic.
The government is targeting meat processing plants that can shape the prices paid to farmers and charged to consumers.The White House Fact sheet The top four companies say they dominate 85% of the beef market. In poultry, the four largest processing companies dominate 54% of the market. And for pork, this figure is 70% of the four big companies.
Some industry groups are opposed to the government’s planned oversight of the food industry.
Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the US Chamber of Commerce, said coronaviruses and rising energy and labor costs are pushing up meat prices, not the industry’s corporate structure.
“Government intervention is likely to further curb supply and push prices even higher,” Bradley said, as the administration practices politics rather than economics.
“This seems like a solution to the problem,” said Mike Brown, president of the National Chicken Council. He said the administration is using the food industry as “a scapegoat of the critical challenges facing our economy.” “
However, some groups represent farmers and cowherds who have praised Biden’s move, saying that the current system puts independent producers and consumers at a disadvantage.
“We have to find out why farmers and ranchers continue to receive low payments while families across the United States endure rising meat prices,” said Zippy Duval, chairman of the American Farm Bureau Federation. increase. “We are encouraged by the government’s willingness to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to improve price discovery in the cattle market.”
Biden outlined plans to distribute $ 1 billion from Coronavirus relief package We support the expansion of independent meat processors. He also emphasized funding to train industry workers and improve conditions, and issued new rules on meat packers and labeling requirements to be designated as a “US product”.
The Justice Department and the Department of Agriculture will launch a joint effort to make it easier to report anti-competitive behavior to the government. The government also aimed to increase the transparency of the cattle market, Biden said, “without price transparency, the free market is not truly free.”
This effort is part of a broader attempt to regain control of the American economic story.Repeated in addition to inflation Wave of coronavirus outbreak Nevertheless, it weakens people’s views on the economy Strong growth The past year.
Biden has the opportunity to highlight economic strengths in the December Employment Report released on Friday. Economists surveyed by FactSet predict that the United States will add 362,000 jobs last month, reducing unemployment to 4.1%. Its growth in size shows that the United States added about 6.5 million jobs last year, more than any other year, reflecting population growth and government spending.
Associated Press writer Josh Funk from Omaha, Nebraska contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
Biden: Intensifying competition in the meat industry could ease food costs | Lifestyle
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