Last week, R-CALF USA, the largest organization exclusively representing America’s independent cattle producers, joined the Main Street Competition Coalition’s letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to take strong action on antitrust enforcement.
The letter was signed by hundreds of independent businesses across 43 states and nearly 100 national and state organizations representing farmers, ranchers, small businesses, energy marketers and consumer advocates.
In the letter, the coalition applauded the Trump administration’s prior efforts to challenge monopolistic behavior and urged “America First” antitrust principles. It called for prioritizing enforcement in industries where market dominance threatens fair competition and for resisting a return to the hands-off approach that has allowed monopolies to grow unchecked.
The letter also commended the administration’s appointments of key antitrust leaders such as Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson, FTC Commissioner Mark Meador, and Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who have advanced efforts to restore open and fair markets as critical components of U.S. economic policy.
The coalition emphasized that competition policy is not about punishing success but about ensuring open markets where businesses compete on merit and that no company is too powerful to avoid accountability.
In conclusion, the groups called for vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws and for the administration to advance critical pending antitrust cases. These include antitrust enforcement cases in technology and agriculture that address market practices that undermine a competitive economy.
An important private antitrust action was initiated by R-CALF USA in 2019 when it filed a historic class-action antitrust lawsuit against the “Big 4” meatpackers, which alleges they unlawfully conspired to suppress cattle prices while simultaneously inflating the price of beef.
“The only way we can expect to reverse the ongoing contraction of our cattle and sheep industries is to restore competition to our livestock markets. Rigorous enforcement of our antitrust laws and the fair competition laws incorporated in the Packers and Stockyards Act is essential for achieving that goal,” said Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA.
