'America doesn't run on Tofu, it runs on real food': Republicans tear into Biden administration's plans to crack down on beef, poultry and pork industries to combat rising grocery prices
Republicans are ripping the Biden administration on Thursday over its plan to crack down on big meatpacking companies and for blaming a sharp increase in grocery prices under President Biden's watch on beef, pork and poultry.
It comes after the Biden administration announced plans to take a tougher stance toward meatpacking companies it says are causing sticker shock at grocery stores.
Four companies control much of the US meat processing market, and White House officials blamed those companies for rising food prices.
During Wednesday's press briefing, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke about the actions the administration was taking to help alleviate what Deese called 'pandemic profiteering' from the top meat processing companies.
'Thank you, Brian Deese, for again proving why the rest of America cannot stand coastal elites,' Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida wrote on Twitter. 'NEWS FLASH: People in REAL AMERICA are impacted by the increase in beef, pork, and poultry prices.'
'America doesn't run on tofu; it runs on real food.'
Donalds told DailyMail.com in a Thursday morning statement, 'The Biden-Harris administration needs to stop shifting the blame onto everyone for the policies they created.'
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida (left) said the rising cost of groceries isn't due to meat, as Biden officials said on Wednesday, but instead blamed 'Bidenomics and the socialist spending spree in Washington'
'The rise in beef, poultry, and pork prices amongst several other essential goods and services directly results from Bidenomics and the socialist spending spree in Washington,' the lawmaker wrote.
From the White House podium Wednesday, Deese blamed 'about half of the overall increase in grocery prices' on 'significant increases' in beef, pork and poultry products.
'If you take out those three categories, we've actually seen price increases that are more in line with historical norms,' he continued. 'And we've seen some categories - for example fresh fruits and vegetable prices - have actually declined since the end of last year.'
Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw mocked the Biden administration's argument on Twitter Wednesday.
'America: our food prices are too high what are you doing about inflation?' Crenshaw posed. 'Biden admin: just be vegan and stop complaining you bunch of rubes.'
New York Rep. Claudia Tenney said Deese 'stood at the White House podium today and said that grocery price increases are in line with historical norms if you just ignore meat, poultry and pork.'
'Just like Biden saying all Americans were evacuated from Afghanistan if you just ignore the 10% that he stranded,' she added.
National Economic Council Director Brian Deese (center) and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (right) spoke Wednesday about the actions the administration was taking to help alleviate what Deese called 'pandemic profiteering' from the top meat processing companies
On Wednesday Deese said 55 to 85 per cent of beef, pork and poultry markets are controlled by four producers that are all seeing record or near-record profits.
'And so when you see that level of consolidation, and the increase in prices, it raises a concern about pandemic profiteering - about companies that are driving price increases in a way that hurts consumers who are going to the grocery store and also isn't benefiting the actual producers, the farmers and ranchers that growing the product,' he said.
Trade association the North American Meat Institute blasted Deese's remarks as inflammatory.
'Issuing inflammatory statements that ignore the fundamentals of how supply and demand affects markets accomplishes nothing. Meat and poultry markets are competitive and dynamic with no one sector of the industry consistently dominating the market at the expense of another,' they said Wednesday.
Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa broke away from his fellow party members and praised the Biden official's comments.
'A long-term fix is still needed to provide fairness and transparency for independent producers in the cattle market, like my bill with Senator Tester would provide,' Grassley wrote in a statement. 'The Biden Administration has acknowledged the ongoing work in Congress and has shown interest in getting to a real, legislative solution.'
'I’m thankful for that acknowledgement and look forward to working in a bipartisan way on behalf of Iowa cattlemen and independent producers across the country.'
Republican lawmakers criticized the Biden administration's targeting of the meat industry
Grassley and Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester introduced bipartisan legislation in March aimed at increasing competition and transparency in the meat market.
As part of a set of initiatives, the administration will funnel $1.4 billion in COVID-19 pandemic stimulus money to small meat producers and workers, administration aides said in the blog post. They also promised action to 'crack down on illegal price fixing.'
The big four processors in the U.S. beef sector are: Cargill , a global commodity trader based in Minnesota; Tyson Foods Inc, the chicken producer that is the biggest U.S. meat company by sales; Brazil-based JBS SA, the world's biggest meatpacker; and National Beef Packing Co , which is controlled by Brazilian beef producer Marfrig Global Foods SA.
Neither Deese or Vilsack called out the companies by name at the briefing.
Price increases in beef, pork and poultry have driven half of the increased prices Americans have paid for food they eat at home since December, the White House said.
And the administration sees those companies collecting too much profit after the stimulus helped prop up demand for their products.
Senator Chuck Grassley broke away from the rest of his party to praise the Biden administration's move
'We've helped sustain this market, and it's frustrating to see these companies turn around and raise prices,' Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy director of the White House's National Economic Council, said in an interview. 'What we see here smacks of pandemic profiteering and that is the behavior the administration finds concerning.'
Rising inflation has posed a serious threat to Biden's efforts to get a grip on the COVID-19 pandemic - his top priority as president - and engineer an economic recovery from the recession it caused.
The Biden administration has responded to these issues partly by ramping up efforts to crack down on what it sees as anticompetitive and monopolistic behavior that could be increasing prices.
A meeting of a new White House Competition Council created by Biden is set for Friday.
USDA and the Department of Justice have already been conducting an investigation into price-fixing in the chicken-processing industry.
'The goal of that over time is to bring these prices down,' said Ramamurti.
U.S. lawmakers are seeking increased oversight of the beef sector as concerns about anticompetitive behavior increase after the pandemic and a cyberattack on JBS USA.
The administration is 'encouraged' by bipartisan legislation that could aid more price negotiation in the meat market, it said in the blog.
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