Trump accuses foreign-owned meat packers of inflating US beef prices and
calls for investigation
[November 08, 2025] By
DARLENE SUPERVILLE and STEVE KARNOWSKI
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday accused foreign-owned
meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the U.S. 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 key elections in which the winning
Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the public’s concerns
about the cost of living. But experts said it's unlikely that an
investigation would result in lower prices at grocery stores, and a
trade group representing meat packers said they're not to blame.
Trump did not present evidence for his claims, writing on social media
that “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.”
He said he was taking the action to help ranchers, who were recently
angered by his suggestion that the U.S. would buy Argentine beef to
bring down stubbornly high prices for American consumers.
“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,” Trump said.
Why beef prices have climbed
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.
Tonsor said the ownership mix in the meat packing industry has not
changed significantly in the past four years.
Concentration in the meat packing business has been a longtime concern
for farmers and politicians on both sides of the aisle. Four major
meatpacking companies dominate the beef market in the United States.
There’s no evidence to back up claims that the big packers have undue
market power and use it to drive up beef prices, said Derrell Peel, an
agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University.
“The packing industry in this country has been investigated and
researched for 50 years, and it’s been an issue for over a hundred
years, at least, for some producers,” Peel said, expressing skepticism
that consumers or producers will benefit from the investigation Trump
announced.
“If the outcome is to break up the big packers, the outcome will be
higher beef prices for consumers, and lower cattle prices for
producers,” Peel said.
Meat packers say they're getting pinched by high prices
Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin said Friday that he and fellow Republican
senators Cindy-Hyde-Smith of Mississippi and Tim Sheehy of Montana
visited the White House earlier in the day to speak with Trump about
recent volatility in the beef market. Mullin said Trump agreed to have
the Justice Department look at the issue.
[to top of second column] |
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters during a meeting with
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the Cabinet Room of the
White House, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan
Vucci)
 Mullin blamed meat processors,
saying that “we’re seeing the same exact game play again out” as a
2019 lawsuit against large meatpackers for violating antitrust laws.
JBS, which is based in Brazil, is the largest U.S. beef producer and
its second-largest producer of poultry and pork. Half of its annual
revenue comes from the U.S., where it has more than 72,000
employees.
The company has faced price-fixing charges before. In 2022, JBS
agreed to a $52.5 million settlement with grocery stores and
wholesalers who accused JBS, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods and other
companies of working together to suppress the number of cattle being
slaughtered in order to drive up beef prices.
JBS did not admit wrongdoing as part of that settlement. Messages
seeking comment were left Friday with JBS USA.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., last week called on the administration to
renew an investigation into meat packers that was opened in Trump's
first term. Cramer's office said he has pushed for such a probe
since March 2020.
The Meat Institute, a trade group that represents JBS and other meat
producers, said its industry is being pinched by the price of
cattle, despite record prices for U.S. beef.
“For more than a year, beef packers have been operating at a loss
due to a tight cattle supply and strong demand,” Meat Institute
President and CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a statement. “The beef
industry is heavily regulated, and market transactions are
transparent. 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.”
Trump’s accusations have renewed a bipartisan presidential fight
against rising food prices.
Then-President Joe Biden talked with independent farmers and
ranchers about initiatives to reduce food prices by increasing
competition within the meat industry. And then-Vice President Kamala
Harris, who Trump defeated in winning reelection last year, used her
campaign to vow to crack down on food producers and major
supermarkets’ “ price gouging.”
____
Karnowski reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers
Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, and Stephen
Groves in Washington contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
