Having a July 4 barbecue will be significantly more expensive this year than it was a year ago, and two reports say President Donald Trump’s policies are at least partly to blame.
In an analysis published Wednesday, the American Economic Liberties Project faulted Trump for not taking on the corporate concentration in the meatpacking industry, which the group argued was the single biggest contributor to a “July 4th BBQ burn” that will see Americans pay record prices for ground beef.
The report finds that even though Trump has tried to cut prices by lowering his tariffs to increase the supply of imported beef, they have not fallen due to the meatpacking oligopoly’s power to keep prices high regardless of input costs.
In fact, the report says that prices have gone up by an additional 2% since Trump exempted beef imports from his tariffs last November.
The real problem, the report contends, is that just four companies process 85% of US beef, giving them enormous leverage over what consumers pay for the final product.
Even though three of these four firms have paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle price-fixing allegations, the report adds, none of them have been broken up.
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