The security task forces would work towards addressing risks from anti-competitive behavior and price fixing.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 6 establishing security task forces within the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to protect competition across the U.S. food supply chain.
The security task forces would work towards addressing risks from anti-competitive behavior and price fixing, according to Trump’s order, titled “Addressing Security Risks From Price Fixing and Anti-Competitive Behavior in the Food Supply Chain.”
The order states that anti-competitive behavior in the food industry, particularly by “foreign-controlled corporations,” poses a threat to the “stability and affordability” of the U.S. food supply chain. It adds that some companies in the U.S. food supply chains have “even settled civil lawsuits accusing them of price fixing for tens of millions of dollars.”
“Food supply sectors, including meat processing, seed, fertilizer, and equipment, have similar vulnerabilities to price fixing and other anti-competitive practices,” the president wrote in the order. “My Administration will act to determine whether anti-competitive behavior, especially by foreign-controlled companies, increases the cost of living for Americans and address any associated national security threat to food supply chains.”
The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to establish food supply chain security task forces within their respective agencies.
These task forces will “take all necessary and appropriate actions to investigate food-related industries within their established areas of expertise and determine whether anti-competitive behavior exists in food supply chains in the United States” and whether control from “food-related industries by foreign entities” is raising food prices in America.
The order directs Bondi and Ferguson to bring “enforcement actions” and propose “new regulatory approaches” if their respective task forces’ investigations uncover any anti-competitive behavior.
Additionally, the task forces are directed to jointly brief House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), and the chairs of congressional committees of jurisdiction within 180 days of Trump signing the order, and again within 365 days of the signing date, Dec. 6.
“Such briefings shall not include any information related to ongoing investigations, prosecutions, regulatory actions, or litigation, nor any non‑public information regarding any food-related industry investigated pursuant to this order,” the order states.
By Jacob Burg
