With bold executive order, Trump moves to restore fairness for American consumers
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The spirit of America lives not in the bureaucratic corridors of Washington, but around kitchen tables, in the fields, barns, and pastures that make those kitchen tables possible. While the men and women who feed, feed and clothe our nation are under pressure, our entire republic feels the pressure.
Therefore, the executive order that President Donald Trump signed on December 6 targeting price fixing and anticompetitive behavior in our food supply chain is more than a mere regulatory action; is a line in the sand. And it was very late.
For decades, foreign interests and corporate monopolies have tightened their grip on the system that feeds us.
Brooke Rollins: FARM SECURITY IS NATIONAL SECURITY
And President Trump is once again stepping forward to defend it.
Since I was sworn in earlier this year, I’ve heard the same message from farmers and ranchers in every corner of this great country: The last four years of President Joe Biden’s administration have been crushing.
As commodity prices have fallen, the cost of doing business has increased. Inflation has skyrocketed, but the needs of those who produce our food have been left aside. Since 2020, seed costs have increased by 18 percent, fuel by 32 percent, fertilizer by 37 percent, labor by 47 percent, and interest expenses by 73 percent. These numbers not only strain budgets, but also threaten the very fabric of our national security.
President Trump is focused on providing both short-term and long-term solutions that will ease the burden on our producers and secure our agricultural economy for generations to come.
From targeted farmer assistance to H-2A program fixes, we work every hour of every day to lower input costs. But we know that more must be done to restore justice to our broken system and address the mess that the previous administration allowed to fuel.
Anticompetitive behavior, especially when committed by foreign-controlled companies, has long been a threat to the fairness of this system and the affordability of America’s food supply.
In recent years, some companies in the American food supply chain have even filed civil lawsuits accusing them of tens of millions of dollars in price fixing.
It is long past time for the federal government to thoroughly examine competitive conditions in the agricultural market, including antitrust practices that promote free market competition.
Earlier this fall, USDA and the Department of Justice signed a memorandum of understanding to do just that. The Compact aligns both agencies’ shared commitment to protecting American farmers and ranchers from the burdens of high and variable input costs such as feed, fertilizer, fuel, seed, equipment and other essential commodities, while ensuring competitive supply chains and lower consumer prices.
President Trump’s new executive order builds on this initiative by bringing the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission into the discussion.
For the first time in history, the president and Attorney General Pam Bondi will establish a Food Supply Chain Security Task Force in each of the relevant departments to investigate food-related industries. Through these Task Forces, the Trump administration will determine whether any anticompetitive behavior, particularly by foreign-controlled companies, increases the cost of living for Americans and address related national security threats to our food supply.
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Make no mistake; Price fixing, collusion, and anticompetitive schemes have no place in U.S. agriculture and will not be ignored.
Whether it’s drought, floods, pests, labor shortages, or ordinary market volatility, farmers have enough challenges to deal with. Very high input prices should not be one of them.
With each passing day, we enter the Golden Age of American agriculture defined by fairness, competition, and prosperity. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump will not allow our producers to be bullied.
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Farmers first. Families first. America first.
This is the recipe for success, security and affordability, from the beginning of the supply chain to dinner tables across America.
