WASHINGTON, DC – Building on last month’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) would introduce new rules to protect ranchers and farmers from corporate abuse, President Joe Biden has issued an executive order to address anticompetitive practices.
The order outlines 72 initiatives to rein in the corporate powerhouses that control markets in agriculture, airlines, broadband and banking — and includes efforts to lower drug prices and protect consumers’ privacy.
The sweeping order includes actions and recommendations that the White House says “will lower prices for families, increase wages for workers, and promote innovation and even faster economic growth.”
The order directs the Department of Agriculture to stop the “abusive practices” of the largest meat processors. It directs USDA to consider new rules under the Packers and Stockyards Act making it easier to bring and win claims against meat processors. It also asks the agency to better define the “Product of the USA” label to increase transparency for consumers when buying meat.
The order asks USDA to increase opportunities for ranchers and farmers to access additional markets through alternative food distribution systems like farmers markets and developing standards and labels. And the order also encourages the Federal Trade Commission to limit equipment manufacturers from restricting farmers’ and rancher’s ability to repair their own equipment.
The White House, referencing the antitrust efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt a century earlier, promised a “whole-of-government effort” to foster competition under a sweeping order targeting the Silicon Valley giants, as well as health care, telecommunications, manufacturing and other sectors, according to a fact-sheet released ahead of the signing.
The White House’s executive order states that 75 percent of U.S. industries are more consolidated than they were 20 years ago. That, they say, has helped triple prices for many household necessities, while also making it harder for workers to bargain against competing employers for better wages and benefits.
The executive order primarily consists of provisions that other federal agencies, such as the Department of Agriculture, will have to draft and enact on their own. But Biden’s order goes a step beyond by offering pointed suggestions for steps to take, rather than leaving implementation entirely to the agencies.
