TACKLING FOOD COSTS: Even as food inflation slows, grocery store costs are top of voters’ minds this year — and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is pitching a price gouging crackdown that’s raising concerns from industry leaders and outrage from Republicans. In a Friday speech, during which she outlined her economic policy goals, Harris said she would work to pass a federal ban on price gouging as president. “My plan will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules, and we will support smaller food businesses that are trying to play by the rules and get ahead,” she said. Voters have felt the pangs of rising food prices, which have increased more than 20 percent over the last four years, making the issue a key political talking point in the matchup between Harris and former President Donald Trump. Balancing act: Harris’ proposed takedown of corporate greed goes further than Biden, who hesitated to take any sweeping action on food inflation, and is the latest signal of how Harris’ policies may diverge from the current Biden administration. Capitol Hill’s role: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a CNN interview Sunday that House Democrats will work with Harris on her economic proposals, arguing “we’ve got to drive down costs, including for groceries.” But even under a Harris administration, it’s unlikely Democrats will have the votes to pass price-gouging legislation in Congress. Her proposal essentially mirrors a bill from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) that has stalled amid GOP opposition. And Harris’ pitch, which includes giving the FTC more resources to investigate major acquisition deals in the food sector, would need GOP buy-in so Democrats can swing extra FTC resources via spending fights in Congress. Lawmakers have also eyed the executive order route in the absence of movement in the halls of Congress. Warren and other progressives previously pushed President Joe Biden to take sweeping executive action to drive down food prices, while praising his work securing voluntary price reductions from some corporations. PROMPT PUSHBACK: Former President Donald Trump tore into Harris’ economic proposals during his campaign speeches over the weekend. “She says she’s going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on Day One,” he said at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania. “But Day One for Kamala was three-and-a-half years ago.” Trump noted on Thursday that Harris’ price gouging crackdown would lead to consumers experiencing “food shortages, rationing, hunger, dramatically more inflation.” “This announcement is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed,” he said. Trump’s rebuke aligns with the GOP’s messaging over the last several years, arguing Democrats’ own policies have fueled food inflation and that Biden has done himself a disservice by touting a thriving economy when many voters haven’t experienced significant improvement at the grocery store. Industry rebuke: Food industry representatives have rejected accusations of price gouging, arguing that high input costs have forced grocery store companies to raise prices. “The proposal calling for a ban on grocery price gouging is a solution in search of a problem,” said Greg Ferrara, president and CEO of the National Grocers Association, in a statement. “Our independent grocers, already operating on extremely thin margins, are hurting from the same inflationary pressure points as their customers.” Ferrara instead called for the Executive Branch to “look closely at anticompetitive behaviors” and reduce credit card fees and “burdensome” regulations. FMI, The Food Industry Association, which represents food retailers, pointed out that the Labor Department’s recent inflation report signals that year-over-year inflation is moderating and that grocery stores operate on tight profit margins. “Americans should feel confident that the food industry has zero tolerance for deceptive practices like price gouging, an illegal activity that has no place in our stores and is inconsistent with the way the food industry conducts its business of feeding American families,” said FMI’s President and CEO Leslie Sarasin.
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