来自11个州的总检察长发出信件唐纳德·特朗普总统敦促美国司法部调查美国顶级肉类加工公司涉嫌操纵价格的行为，他说他要求联邦机构进行调查。
“我已经要求司法部调查此事，”特朗普周三在白宫会见爱荷华州州长金·雷诺兹时证实。“我已经要求他们对此进行认真的调查，因为这不应该以这种方式发生。”他继续表示，政府打算确定实力强大的肉类加工企业之间的非法活动是否导致零售牛肉价格与活牛价格之间的差距日益扩大。
“我们想保护我们的农民，”特朗普告诉记者。他指出，在竞争激烈的市场环境下，供求曲线应该能防止价格差距扩大到美国肉类加工业的水平。正如爱荷华州、北达科他州、科罗拉多州、密苏里州、蒙大拿州、亚利桑那州、爱达荷州、明尼苏达州、内布拉斯加州、南达科他州和怀俄明州的司法部长在周二给联邦司法部长威廉·巴尔的信中所解释的那样，养牛场主遭受了价格差距扩大的后果，而肉类加工巨头却在获利。
这封信表达了流传多年的担忧，质疑美国主要肉类包装商是否串通一气，在操纵活牛投标的同时，为牛肉产品制定“固定”零售价格，通过迫使生产商降低成本来压低市场价值。
“在这个高度集中的行业，肉类包装商已经取得了相当大的成就
利润率。然而，几代人以来一直为我们国家提供牛肉的养牛场主受到挤压，常常挣扎着生存下去，”信中写道，并补充道，消费者也受到当前市场机制的负面影响，尤其是在新的冠状病毒大流行带来经济挑战的情况下。
“如此高的集中度和不断加剧的整合威胁，让我们担心牛肉加工商很容易协调他们的行为，并在养牛业制造瓶颈——对牧场主和消费者都不利，”信中继续写道，要求司法部评估肉类加工业是否违反反垄断法。
4月28日，华盛顿一家杂货店的蛋白质货架。在一群总检察长致信美国司法部，敦促调查美国顶级肉类加工公司的非法行为后，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)表示，他要求司法部“调查”他们的指控。
目前，四家公司——JBS、泰森食品、史密斯菲尔德食品和嘉吉——控制着美国大约80%的蛋白质市场，创造了一个更容易被操纵的经济环境。缺乏竞争只允许少数公司对市场的整体结构施加相当大的影响，并且在缺乏监管的情况下会导致腐败行为。
“我们特别要求司法部领导对这个行业的竞争动态进行彻底审查，”信中总结说。“现在，我们比以往任何时候都更需要将我们的集体资源用于促进竞争和保护消费者。”
特朗普在大流行期间一直支持肉类加工业的持续运营。尽管有几家公司报告了员工中的新冠状病毒病例，并因此关闭了一些设施，但许多公司在总统签署协议后于最近重新开张行政命令根据国防生产法案指定肉类加工厂为关键基础设施。
TRUMP ASKS DOJ TO LOOK INTO MEAT SUPPLY PRICES AFTER ATTORNEYS GENERAL WRITE LETTER ASKING FOR INVESTIGATION
After attorneys general from 11 states issued a letter urging the United States Department of Justice to examine the nation's top meat processing companies for suspected price fixing, President Donald Trump said he requested the federal agency proceed with an investigation.
"I have asked the Justice Department to look into it," Trump confirmed during a meeting with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds at the White House on Wednesday. "I have asked them to take a very serious look into it because it shouldn't be happening that way." Continuing, he said the government intends to determine whether unlawful activity among powerful meat processing corporations has contributed to a growing disparity between the price of retail beef and cost of live cattle.
"We want to protect our farmers," Trump told reporters, noting that supply and demand curves, within a competitive market environment, should prevent price gaps from playing out to the extent that they have in the U.S. meat-packing industry. As attorneys general from Iowa, North Dakota, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming explained in their letter to federal Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday, cattle ranchers have suffered the consequences of widening price margins while meat processing giants reap profits.
The letter voiced concerns that have circulated for years, which question if the nation's leading meat-packers engage in collusion to establish "fixed" retail prices for beef products while manipulating bids for live cattle, driving down market value by forcing producers to lower their costs.
"In this highly concentrated industry, meat packers have achieved sizeable
profit margins. Cattle ranchers, however, who for generations have supplied our nation's beef, are squeezed and often struggle to survive," the letter read, adding that consumers are negatively impacted by the current market scheme as well, particularly amid economic challenges posed by the new coronavirus pandemic.
"With such high concentration and the threat of increasing consolidation, we have concerns that beef processors are well positioned to coordinate their behavior and create a bottleneck in the cattle industry—to the detriment of ranchers and consumers alike," the letter continued, requesting the Department of Justice to assess the meat processing industry for antitrust violations.
The protein aisle at a Washington, D.C, grocery store is pictured on April 28. After a group of attorneys general issued a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice urging investigation into unlawful practices among the nation's top meat processing companies, President Donald Trump said he asked the department to "look into" their claims.
Currently, four corporations—JBS, Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, and Cargill—control roughly 80 percent of the U.S. protein market, creating an economic setting that is already more susceptible to manipulation. Lack of competition allows just a few firms to wield considerable influence over a market's overall structure and can lead to corrupt practices in the absence of regulation.
"We are specifically asking the Department of Justice to lead a thorough examination of the competitive dynamics of this industry," the letter said in conclusion. "Now, more than ever, we need to dedicate our collective resources to promote competition and protect consumers."
Trump has supported the meat processing industry's continued operations throughout the pandemic. Though several companies have reported cases of the new coronavirus among employees and shut down facilities as a result, many reopened recently after the president signed an executive order that designated meat processing plants critical infrastructure under the Defense Production Act.
