Big Food ditches Kamala Harris’ food price hike plan

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to take action combats rising pricesand some reject the proposed ban.

“The proposal calling for a ban on food price increases is a solution in search of a problem,” the National Grocers Association (NGA) said in a statement last week.

The trade association said they were independent grocers feeling the pinch same as acute as their customers. Rising labor costs, rent, transfer taxes and utilities are key areas forcing small businesses to operate. razor thin edges.

Furthermore, the NGA said that independent traders are increasingly disadvantaged compared to market power of large retailersin part because they can use their scale to negotiate better dealswhile exercising their influence in ways local stores can’t match. The association argues that the imbalance impacts and contributes to profitability higher prices for consumers in general.

“We hope that the next (and the current) administration will look closely at anti-competitive behavior, including price discrimination,” the NGA said.

Last week, Democratic presidential candidate Harris said that in his first 100 days in office he would aim for big grocery bills by implementing a ban on corporate price gouging, adding that it would also seek to empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and state attorneys general to impose significant penalties on violators.

Earlier this month, FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said the agency would make an inquiry about the continuous rise in food prices which started during the Covid-19 pandemic and which has continued since then.

Even with Harris’ broad economic plan, which includes other key provisions such as expanding tax credits for children, affordable housing financeand an increase in the profit taxnot everyone sees her price gouging ban.

“They’ve tried it in Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, the USSR,” said Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. CNN in an interview on the weekend. “No, that won’t work.”

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump dismissed claims that a price crackdown would be possible under a Harris presidency. At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump said he would force a ban consumers to deal with “food shortages, rationing, starvation and dramatically higher inflation.”

An industry-wide call The food hikes come at a time when prices have risen by around 25% over the past four yearsoutpacing growth in consumer goods, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

To deal with rising consumer prices, the NGA proposed three ways Washington can take action: reduce tolls, reduce excessive regulations, and enforce existing laws such as the Robinson-Patman Act, an antitrust law designed to preventing discrimination and promoting fair competition.