US Justice Department expands beef price probe to eight retailers

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday that its antitrust division has expanded an investigation on beef affordability to add eight major retailers, including Walmart and Costco.

The Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward has sent letters regarding the recent surge in retail prices for beef to a list of companies, which also includes e-commerce giant Amazon, the post said.

Here are some details:

• The list of companies the antitrust division is investigating into also includes grocers like Kroger and Albertsons, Aldi, Publix as well as Ahold Delhaize USA, according to the post.
• The antitrust division has been conducting a criminal investigation into the conduct of large meatpackers after U.S. President Donald Trump accused meatpacking companies of fueling beef prices in the country through manipulation and collusion and ordered the Justice Department to investigate.
• Meatpacker Tyson Foods earlier this year agreed to pay $82.5 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit brought by grocers and other businesses that accused it of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply.
• Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Company slaughter about 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat in supermarkets.
• U.S. beef prices hit a record high in May and have been straining wallets of consumers who are already grappling with rising costs of living stoked by soaring gasoline prices owing to the Middle East conflict.
• The eight retailers did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.