President Biden’s administration is targeting grocery chains, sending out an election-year proposal that companies lower prices on everything from milk to eggs and bread.
“Our message is a very clear message that the president has and will continue to lean on, which is, if you’re a company whose input prices have gone down and you’re not passing those savings on to consumers, he’s going to call you out,” said Jared Bernstein, chairman of the Advisory Council. Biden’s economy, in a virtual meeting with reporters.
“We have seen high (profit) margins, especially in the retail sector, and have noted that there needs to be more pathways there (to consumers).”
Bernstein did not name any specific companies.
Grocery giants Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons are booking 20-plus percent gross profit margins, about in line with before the COVID-19 pandemic drove up inflation.
A White House analysis of Census data shows food and beverage retailers’ earnings as a share of their costs have risen sharply from before the pandemic to levels not seen since the mid-2000s, a measure they say more directly tracks the retail mark-up.
Last week, Biden said “there are still too many companies in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation.”
President Biden’s administration is targeting grocery chains. AFP via Getty Images Biden’s bid for lower supermarket prices comes ahead of the Democrat’s November bid for re-election. Getty Images
Biden has pushed drugmakers to lower insulin costs, hotel chains to cut fees and tried to diversify the meatpacking industry after beef prices soared in the wake of the pandemic.
Biden’s bid for lower supermarket prices comes ahead of the Democrat’s November bid for re-election. A strong batch of economic data – including a strong jobs and payrolls total on Friday – has not translated into favorable approval ratings for Biden, with voters still saying they are concerned about high costs.
Consumer confidence is improving, Bernstein said, citing a University of Michigan consumer survey that showed sentiment rising to the highest level since July 2021 and a recent strong US stock market.
“As inflation continues to moderate and the job market remains tight and real wage and wage growth continues to outpace price growth, that should start to show improved confidence,” he said.
“We’re also working hard to reduce costs — lower real costs, not just lower inflation,” Bernstein said, citing eggs, milk, appliances, airfare, used cars and gas as particularly sensitive areas for Americans.
Although eggs only account for 0.1% of the consumer price index, Bernstein said, “in the psyche of the country it’s much bigger than that and we’re very aware of that.”
The United Nations food agency’s world price index fell in January to its lowest level in nearly three years, driven by declines in grains and meat.
Kroger and Albertsons plan to close a proposed $24.6 billion merger later this year, pending an antitrust review amid concerns that the deal could raise prices.
Grocery giants Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons are booking 20-plus percent gross profit margins, about in line with before the COVID-19 pandemic drove up inflation. Christopher Sadowski
“We agree with President Biden,” a Kroger spokeswoman said. “Too many grocers in America have increased margins unlike Kroger.”
The spokesman added that the merger would “lower prices for more American consumers by delivering at least half a billion in additional price investment in Albertsons stores.”
A spokesman for the National Grocers Association, which represents independent grocers, 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 higher prices to their smaller competitors. .”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
