Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned packers of driving the price of US meat and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation.
The Republican president announced the move on social media days after his party suffered losses in primary elections in which the winning Democratic candidates did not stop at the cost of living to the public about the cost of living.
“I am asking the DOJ to immediately begin investigating meat packing companies that are driving meat prices, price fixing, and price fixing,” Price wrote in a social media post.
“We always defend our American ranchers, and blame them for what the big foreign meat owners are doing, pushing up food prices,” he continued.
Trump has provided no evidence to support his allegations.
“Action must be taken immediately to protect consumers, fight illegal monopolies, and ensure that these corporations are not able to fix the costs of the American people,” he said.
Last month, Trump suggested that the U.S. buy Argentine beef to bring down tighter prices for American consumers, angering ranchers in the carts.
Cattle prices have stagnated in part after drought and years of low prices have led to the smallest U.S. cattle herd size in decades. Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter, also curbed imports.
Trump’s accusations have renewed a Bipartisan Presidential Fight against rising food prices.
Then President Joe Biden spoke to independent farmers and ranchers about initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing competition in the meat industry. And then Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was defeated by Trump last year, used her campaign to vow to crack down on food producers and large supermarkets “gouling”.