WASHINGTON, D.C. - The following statement can be attributed to Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on recent action taken by the administration on meat prices.
“Like so many other products, the factors driving meat prices higher include increased demand, COVID-related supply chain disruptions, and increased input costs, especially higher energy and labor costs.
“One has to ask, if, as the administration asserts, consolidation in meat and other industries has been a problem for years and it is also driving the current surge in prices, then why didn’t it drive prices higher before? It is pretty clear that the administration is attempting to use higher prices to justify their preexisting agenda to overturn decades of bipartisan consensus around antitrust and competition policy in favor of a ‘government-knows-best’ regulatory approach. That isn’t economics, it is politics and sadly, such government intervention would likely further constrain supply and push prices even higher.”
