President Joe Biden’s administration is directing grocery chains to lower prices on goods from milk to eggs and bread as prices have soared since he took office in 2021.
“Our message is a very clear one that the president has and will continue to lean into, which is, if you’re a company whose input prices have come down and you’re not passing those savings along to the consumer, he will call you out,” said Jared Bernstein, the chair of Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers.
“We’ve seen elevated (profit) margins, particularly in the grocery sector, and have taken note that there needs to be more pass-through there (to consumers).”
Last week, Biden claimed “there are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation.”
“As inflation continues to ease and the job market remains tight and real wages and wage growth continue to beat price growth, that should start to show up as improved confidence,” Bernstein said.
“We’re also working hard to lower costs – actual lower costs, not just lower inflation,” said Bernstein, citing eggs, milk, appliances, airfares, used cars and gas as particularly sensitive areas for Americans.”
A spokesperson for the National Grocers Association called for stricter antitrust enforcement and said “the nation’s largest retailers have used their muscle to force food suppliers to offset higher production costs by charging their smaller rivals higher prices.”
