The Federal Trade Commission’s Chair Lina Khan has requested permission to launch an inquiry into grocery prices, which have remained consistently high since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Khan spoke Thursday at the first public meeting of the Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing which the FTC co-hosted with the Department of Justice. President Joe Biden announced the launch of the Strike Force back in March to “strengthen interagency efforts to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior” impacting consumers in the U.S.
According to the FTC, one of the “biggest economic challenges” facing U.S. consumers is high grocery prices. Despite some essential goods coming down in cost, it remains unclear if consumers are getting competitive, affordable pricing, Khan said.
Khan’s inquiry request would “shed light” on why grocery prices and grocers’ profits remain so high when costs have appeared to come down, she said. The FTC would be investigating to ensure “major businesses aren’t exploiting their power” to keep prices elevated, “expose and crack down on underhanded tactics” potentially carried out by large companies and “stop any corporate law-breaking that inflates costs for American families,” Khan said.
“Many large grocery chains are still raking in enormous profits — the FTC is determined to understand why,” Khan said.
Khan’s proposed inquiry needs a commission vote to move forward and, if approved, would send orders to select large grocery companies to gather information on their sales, costs and profits across staple grocery items, Bloomberg reported.
There is no set date for a commission vote, FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar told Bloomberg.