🥩 Trump Orders Sweeping Antitrust Probe of Meat Industry 🍖(Video)

US President Donald Trump has directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch an immediate investigation into the nation’s largest meatpacking corporations over allegations of “illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation” in the beef market.

The move, announced on November 7, 2025, through a White House executive order, targets the concentrated power of the “Big Four” companies—Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA, and National Beef Packing Company—which together dominate approximately 85% of the U.S. beef processing market.

The President’s action follows months of sustained high beef prices for consumers, which have coincided with historically low returns for American cattle producers. The White House framed the investigation as a necessary step to protect both American consumers and ranchers from anticompetitive behavior, particularly by “foreign-dominated conglomerates” that control America’s meat supply. Two of the four largest meatpackers, JBS and National Beef, are either foreign-owned or have significant foreign ownership and control.

Focus on Market Concentration and Disparity

The core of the issue, according to the administration, is the extreme market concentration in the meatpacking sector. This consolidation, which has surged from 36% control by the top four firms in 1980 to the current 85%, is accused of creating a monopoly structure that allows the “Big Four” to artificially inflate retail prices while simultaneously suppressing the prices paid to cattle ranchers.

The wide disparity between record-high beef prices at the grocery store and the shrinking share of the consumer dollar that goes to the rancher has been a long-standing point of contention in rural America. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the retail price for ground chuck beef, for example, reached $6.33 per pound in September 2025, marking a 13.5% increase from the previous year. In contrast, ranchers have seen their share of every beef dollar plummet from roughly 70 cents in the 1970s to just 37 cents today, even as corporate profits have soared.

DOJ and USDA Take Action

Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed the probe on social media, stating the investigation was “underway” and would be led by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, headed by Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), led by Secretary Brooke Rollins. The investigation is tasked with determining whether the companies have violated antitrust laws through actions like coordinated pricing, capacity restrictions, or manipulating the cash market to suppress cattle prices.

The investigation is expected to be comprehensive, utilizing the authority of the Sherman Antitrust Act to compel document production, question executives, and seek evidence of collusion. The administration’s executive order also directs the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish Food Supply Chain Security Task Forces to investigate potential anti-competitive behavior in broader food-related industries, including seed, fertilizer, and equipment, and to assess whether foreign control in these sectors poses a national security threat.

Industry groups, such as the Meat Institute, which represents the major processors, have defended the industry, arguing that market transactions are “transparent” and that high retail prices are a result of other factors, including the smallest national cattle herd in nearly 75 years due to years of drought, which has pushed up the price of live cattle. The Meat Institute has also claimed that packers have been losing money due to high cattle prices.

The current investigation marks the latest attempt by a presidential administration to address consolidation in the meat industry. The DOJ previously conducted a similar civil investigation in 2020, with no structural changes resulting. Rancher groups, like R-CALF USA, have welcomed the move but stress that only “real reform,” including potentially breaking up the “Big Four” monopolies, will stop the cycles of alleged exploitation and restore fair competition.

Sources

• Trump Administration Cracks Down on Foreign-Owned Meat Packing Cartels (The White House)
• Trump orders probe into meatpackers over record-high US beef prices (FoodBev Media)
• Trump’s DOJ Meatpacker Investigation Explained—and What Must Happen Next (Farm Action)
• Reuters | US Justice Department Probes Meatpackers, Attorney General Says (Farm Action)
• Addressing Security Risks from Price Fixing and Anti-Competitive Behavior in the Food Supply Chain (The White House)