Trump called the Big Four meatpacking plants foreign cartels

A Bloomberg article published over the weekend reported that President Trump called on the US Department of Justice to investigate the so-called “Big Four” meatpacking companies, “which have complete control over the processing, distribution, and pricing of beef in the US.” Trump’s allegations are serious: price fixing and market manipulation by the so-called “foreign-owned meatpacking companies.” Collectively, the “Big Four” control 85% of the US beef market, which, according to the White House, amounts to a monopoly, allowing the companies to drastically cut payments to farmers, reduce livestock herds, inflate consumer prices, and threaten the nation’s food supply, Bloomberg stated. “Action must be taken immediately to protect consumers, combat illegal monopolies, and ensure these corporations do not profit criminally at the expense of the American people,” Trump wrote on his social media account. The Big Four themselves chose not to comment on the investigation or the ...