US President Donald Trump has accused foreign-owned meat packers of driving up the price of beef in the United States and asked the Department of Justice to open an investigation.
Trump announced the move on social media on Friday, days after his Republican Party suffered losses in key elections in which the winning Democratic candidates focused relentlessly on the public’s concerns about the cost of living.
But experts said it was unlikely that an investigation would result in lower prices at grocery stores and a trade group representing meat packers said they were not to blame.
Trump did not present evidence for his claims, writing on social media that “I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation.”
US President Donald Trump points as he walks to board Air Force One on Wednesday. Photo: AFPHe said he was taking the action to help ranchers who were recently angered by his suggestion that the US would buy Argentine beef to bring down stubbornly high prices for American consumers.