Trump Targets Meatpackers as Beef Prices Hit Record Highs

The sticker shock on meat products in the United States is getting real — so much so that President Donald Trump is calling for an investigation into meatpackers worldwide.

In late October, Food Dive reported on recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which showed that while grocery inflation remained unchanged, the data masked the larger headline that beef and veal prices jumped 14.7% month over month. According to BLS data, the price of uncooked beef roast rose 18.4% in September, raw beef steaks increased 16.6%, and uncooked ground beef went up 12.9%.

It’s part of an ongoing economic trend, with beef costs making headlines throughout the summer as well. However, at that time, the price increase was blamed on America’s shrinking cattle supply, which Food & Wine previously explained has been steadily declining for two decades. Now, Trump says, those price hikes are due to “foreign-owned meat packing cartels,” which he also says he’s actively investigating just days after floating (and quickly disowning) the idea of investing in Argentine beef to bring American prices down.

“Today, President Donald J. Trump directed the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the nation’s largest meat packing companies for potential collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation,” the President’s office shared in a statement. “This decisive action targets the foreign-dominated conglomerates that control America’s meat supply and have been accused of artificially inflating prices at the expense of farmers, ranchers, and working families.” The statement specifically named JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods, and National Beef in the investigation. 

The investigation has the backing of the farming community, including the  Ranchers-Cattlemen Legal Action Fund. Bill Bullard, the chief executive of the fund, shared in a statement, “We greatly appreciate President Trump’s announcement that he’s directed the Department of Justice to investigate the beef supply chain to determine if there are any violations of our fair competition laws or antitrust laws.”

“We welcome this investigation to ensure that cattle producers receive competitive prices for their cattle, and that consumers pay prices set by a competitive market rather than a monopolistic one,” Bullard added.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, this isn’t the first time Trump has targeted beef processors. During his first term, the Justice Department under Trump also issued civil subpoenas to the nation’s four largest beef processors for antitrust violations. 

He is not the only president to try to address this issue. The Wall Street Journal noted that during President Biden’s administration, CEOs of the largest meatpackers were called to testify before Congress over rising beef prices. The Biden administration also allocated more than $100 million to smaller meatpackers to “increase independent meat and poultry processing capacity, create more new and better markets for producers, and lower food costs.”

There is, however, one sector that is winning during this beef crisis: chicken. According to Forbes, Tyson reported that chicken sales rose by nearly 4% compared to the previous year and expects those sales to keep increasing by up to 4% in fiscal year 2026.