January 28, 2025

Wyden, Dexter Urge Trump to Make Good on Campaign Promises to Lower Food Prices for American Families

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter today announced they have joined 19 legislative colleagues in a letter to Donald Trump urging him to take meaningful steps to lower grocery prices for American families.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised he would lower food prices “immediately” if elected. However, during his first week, none of the many executive orders he signed addressed any sort of plan to lower food costs.

“Your sole action on costs was an executive order that contained only the barest mention of food prices and not a single specific policy to reduce them,” wrote the lawmakers. “You have tools you can use to lower grocery costs and crack down on corporate profiteering, and we write to ask if you will commit to using those tools to make good on your promises to the American people.”

“To make food more affordable, you should look to the dominant food and grocery companies that have made record profits on the backs of working families who have had to pay higher prices,” continued the lawmakers. “If you are indeed committed to lowering food prices, we stand ready to work with you.”

The lawmakers laid out six recommendations for executive actions to lower prices by encouraging competition and fighting price-gouging at each level of the food supply chain:

  1. Encourage the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prohibit exclusionary contracting by dominant firms in the food industry, making it harder for major retailers and food brands to shut out smaller suppliers and drive up prices at smaller stores.

  2. Encourage the FTC to issue guidance on potential violations of the Robinson Patman Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act within the food industry and take enforcement action where merited. 

  3. Work with the USDA to increase the number of government contract recipients that are very small businesses and to ensure that government contracting considers the long-term costs of food sector consolidation. 

  4. Help the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FTC scrutinize, and where appropriate, block mergers and acquisitions in the food and agricultural sectors.

  5. Encourage the DOJ to prosecute actors in the agricultural and food sectors for price-fixing and other anticompetitive behavior.

  6. Direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and FTC to form a joint task force to investigate food price manipulation throughout the supply chain. 

“Americans are looking to you to lower food prices. Instead of working to lower their grocery bills, however, you have used the first week of your administration on attempting to end birthright citizenship, pardoning individuals who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and renaming a mountain,” concluded the lawmakers. “We urge you to make good on your campaign promise to lower food prices for American families.”

Read the full text of the letter here.