The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division has reportedly initiated a criminal investigation into large meatpacking companies, following President Donald Trump‘s call for a probe into market manipulation last year.
The DOJ is investigating whether these companies engaged in criminal anticompetitive conduct. Criminal antitrust prosecutions are generally limited to cases involving price fixing, market collusion, or bid rigging among competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The antitrust enforcers, as part of the investigation, have been examining how beef companies purchase cattle from ranchers through contracts that reference a pricing benchmark. Some ranchers have raised complaints about the manipulation of this benchmark, according to the report.
The Justice Department had already announced an investigation into beef companies after Trump's call, but had not previously disclosed that it was a criminal probe.
White House and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Benzinga‘s requests for comment.
Trump Flags Beef Pricing, Tyson Cuts Ops
In November, Trump had noted a market anomaly where cattle prices had dropped significantly while boxed beef prices had risen, accusing “Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers” of illicit collusion, price fixing, and price manipulation. The Trump Administration mentioned that the “Big Four” meat packers — JBS (Brazil), Cargill, Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), and National Beef dominate 85% of the U.S. beef processing market currently.
Notably, days after Trump’s order, Tyson Foods announced plans to close its Lexington, Nebraska, beef plant in January and scale back its Amarillo, Texas, facility due to the lowest U.S. cattle supply in nearly 75 years, aiming to position itself for long-term success.
Beef Prices Surge Despite Promises
Beef prices have surged due to a prolonged western U.S. drought that shrank cattle herds and raised feed costs, compounded by a 2025 halt on Mexican livestock imports that tightened supply further. Despite Trump’s promise to slash beef prices at the beginning of his election, cattle and retail beef prices reached record highs 18 months later.
The price of 100% ground chuck beef surged over 19% between November 2024 and March 2026 to $6.68 a pound, as per according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In the face of rising prices and mounting pressure, Trump signed an executive order in November that retroactively lowered tariffs on beef, coffee, bananas, and tomatoes, among other agricultural imports. This move was seen as a response to the cost-of-living crisis that had led to his party losing key elections.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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