The Wisconsin Grocers Association is slamming Vice President Kamala Harris’ policy proposals on price gouging as “misguided,” arguing they “run counter to economic history.”
Harris, who last week accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination as presidential candidate, has pledged to address the high cost of food through a federal ban on corporate price gouging. U.S. food prices have risen by 25% between 2019 and 2023, according to a USDA report.
In a recent speech detailing her economic plan in North Carolina, Harris said “believe me, as president, I will go after the bad actors.”
In a recent release, the WGA noted Wisconsin already has a price gouging law, arguing the proposed ideas “demonstrate a puzzling approach” to economic policy.
“There is no evidence to suggest this is a common practice in the grocery business,” the group wrote. “Why? Because grocers who already work on razor-thin margins, can’t arbitrarily raise prices. Their customers will go down the street to a competitor who has a lower price.”
The organization says the “economic shock” of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly disrupted the grocery business, as inflation exceeding 9% led to higher costs at every point of the supply chain. That includes growers, producers, manufacturers, suppliers, transportation and more, the release notes.
Those increases are now “baked into the cost of products” on grocery store shelves, according to the WGA, which also highlights the impact of workforce disruptions and higher related costs.
A policy overview from the White House on the “Biden-Harris Lowering Costs Agenda” notes grocery chains are making “record profits,” and says the administration is “successfully calling on grocery chains to lower grocery prices.”
The document touts efforts to boost food assistance for low-income families, strengthen supply chains to reduce food prices as well as “cracking down” on price gouging and promoting competition in agriculture.
But the WGA argues marketplace interventions “tend to raise prices,” pointing to the cost of complying with new regulations.
“Politicians, for all their campaign rhetoric, can’t just wave a wand and reduce grocery prices,” the group says. “These types of policies would almost certainly have the opposite effect of what they intended.”
See the WGA release and see coverage of last week’s Democratic National Convention at the WisPolitics Convention Corridor.
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