Overview
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, led by Abigail Slater, has begun the inquiry in coordination with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.
- President Donald Trump accused majority foreign-owned meatpacking firms of collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation that he says are raising consumer costs.
- Trump cited a divergence between lower cattle prices and higher boxed beef prices as a reason for scrutiny, calling the situation "fishy."
- Coverage and experts point to drought, a historically small U.S. herd, and tariffs that curbed Brazilian beef imports as major forces keeping prices high, with ground beef averaging about $6.32 per pound in September.
- The move follows a White House push to expand Argentine beef imports to ease prices, a plan denounced by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and farm-state Republicans.