DOJ, USDA Investigating Meatpackers over Beef Prices

By Ryan Hanrahan

Politico’s Aaron Pellish, Meredith Lee Hill, and Marcia Brown reported that “President Donald Trump said (last) Friday that he asked the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into meatpacking companies, which he accused of illegally manipulating beef prices at the expense of beef farmers and consumers. The announcement comes amid pressure over the high cost of beef — and a bubbling feud with farm-state Republicans over plans to import beef from Argentina — and shortly after a White House meeting with a handful of senators from beef-producing states.”

“‘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 wrote on social media on Friday,” according to Pellish, Lee Hill, and Brown’s reporting. “‘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.’”

“Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media post the investigation into the meatpacking companies is already underway, in coordination with the Department of Agriculture,” Pellish, Lee Hill, and Brown reported. “Neither Bondi nor Trump specified which companies were being targeted, but many of the largest companies in the industry are based abroad.”

The Associated Press’ Darlene Superville and Steve Karnowski reported that “beef prices have soared to record levels in part after drought and years of low prices led to the smallest U.S. herd size in decades. Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, have also curbed imports.”

“Meanwhile, demand for beef remains strong. Prices are high because consumers want to eat it, and they’re willing and able to pay for it, said Glynn Tonsor, who leads the Meat Demand Monitor at Kansas State University,” Superville and Karnowski reported. “Tonsor said the ownership mix in the meat packing industry has not changed significantly in the past four years.”

Meatingplace’s Frank Fuhrig reported that “The Meat Institute, which represents processors, quickly pointed out that beef packers have been losing money on every steer and cow slaughtered for more than a year.”

“‘The beef industry is heavily regulated, and market transactions are transparent,’ Meat Institute President Julie Anna Potts said in a statement to Meatingplace,” Fuhrig reported. “‘The government’s own data from USDA confirms that the beef packing sector is experiencing catastrophic losses and experts predict this will continue into 2026.’”

Meatpacking Companies Have Recently Faced Price-Fixing Lawsuits

Reuters’ Jody Godoy and Tom Polansek reported that “Tyson, Cargill, and JBS have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits accusing the companies of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply. They have denied wrongdoing.”

“The Justice Department’s antitrust division has both civil and criminal investigative authority, and can issue subpoenas for documents and witness testimony in its investigations into suspected anticompetitive conduct,” Godoy and Polansek reported. “(Assistant Attorney General Gai) Slater, a former economic adviser to Vice President JD Vance, has said the division will focus on ‘pocketbook issues’ facing consumers, such as food, housing and transportation.”

“Bipartisan calls for antitrust enforcement in the packing industry have mounted in recent years,” Godoy and Polansek reported. “At a hearing in June, Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, and Cory Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, called for antitrust enforcement in the sector. ‘It’s time to fix this broken system once and for all,’ said Angela Huffman, president of advocacy group Farm Action.”

DOJ, USDA Investigating Meatpackers over Beef Prices was originally published by Farmdoc.