President Biden’s proposal to lower consumer beef prices misses the mark on why costs have increased, the country’s largest meat industry trade group said Monday.
…
President Biden’s proposal to lower consumer beef prices misses the mark on why costs have increased, the country’s largest meat industry trade group said Monday. Sarah Little, a spokeswoman for the North American Meat Institute, said labor shortages and shutdowns of meat production facilities because of COVID-19 are the real culprits — not monopolies and price-fixing as Mr. Biden contends. “The market has already begun to balance itself. All of the government spending announced again today is too late for consumers and producers,” Ms. Little said in an interview. “The White House is eager to announce $1billion in spending — again — on expanding meat packing capacity but has not engaged packer processors since the summer.” President Biden is blaming the increased beef pries on anti-competitive practices in the meat industry. He accused four meatpacking companies of running a near-monopoly in the sector, saying they control 85% of beef processing, while another four firms control 54% of the nation’s poultry processing.
