WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris On Wednesday, his campaign plans to propose the first federal ban on “corporate price gouging in the food and grocery industry.”
“There is a big difference between fair prices in competitive markets excessive prices unrelated to the cost of doing business,” the Harris campaign said in a statement. “Americans can see the difference in their grocery bills.”
The proposed ban is part of a broader ban economic policy platform The Democratic presidential candidate plans to speak at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday.
Harris will also promise that if elected president, he will direct his administration to increase scrutiny of potential mergers between major supermarkets and food manufacturers, particularly the risk that a proposed merger could raise food prices for consumers.
This package of regulatory proposals is one of the Harris campaign’s first attempts to outline an economic platform independent of the president. Joe Bidenagenda.
Before Biden abruptly dropped out of the race in July and endorsed Harris, he campaigned for re-election for more than a year, blaming corporate greed for rising consumer prices driven by inflation.
Harris’ plan still sits firmly within Biden’s overall approach to regulation consumer protection is preferred across a number of industries and sued to block several massive corporate mergers.
The White House in March Launched Strike Force Against Unfair and Illegal Pricing, A joint initiative of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.
On Friday, Harris highlighted the meat industry, saying that “while meat processing companies have enjoyed record-breaking profits since the pandemic, rising meat prices have accounted for a large portion of Americans’ higher grocery bills.” his campaign.
The Democratic presidential nominee will also unveil proposals to reduce consumer spending in two other sectors where corporations have aggressively exercised pricing power: prescription drugs and housing.
Harris’ speech will come two days after his opponent, the former president Donald Trumpgave his own economic policy output In North Carolina, he blamed Harris for the high cost of consumer goods.
“You pay the price for it [Harris’] liberal extremism at the gas pump, at the grocery store, and on the mortgage bill,” Trump said in Asheville.
About a month into his campaign, Harris has already erased Trump’s lead over Biden in national and state polls.
But Trump still maintains a long-term lead over Democrats when it comes to what the candidate voters believe is best for the economy.