DOJ Expands Beef Price Antitrust Probe to Walmart, Costco, Amazon and Five Other Grocery Chains

Since the Justice Department first confirmed its antitrust investigation into the nation's four dominant meatpackers back in May, the inquiry has now widened to the retail side of the beef supply chain. On Sept. 1, the DOJ's Antitrust Division announced on X that it sent letters to eight of the largest U.S. grocers, Kroger, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons, Aldi, Ahold Delhaize USA, Costco and Amazon, demanding records on beef pricing.

Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. signed the letters, which multiple outlets, including Newsweek and Bloomberg (via Transport Topics), reported were dated mid-July. Newsweek, which said it obtained copies, dated them July 16; Bloomberg and BigGo Finance reported July 14. Either way, the retailers had known about the request for roughly six weeks before the DOJ made it public.

The letters ask each company for six years of records, back to 2020, covering retail sales and prices, wholesale purchasing, costs and margins, pricing strategy, and internal analyses of beef market trends, according to the text obtained by Newsweek. "Beef prices are a critical concern to Americans, and a priority for this Justice Department," the department wrote in its public post. None of the eight retailers had responded to requests for comment as of the reports.

The Numbers Driving the Probe

Outlets cited slightly different price figures, reflecting different data cuts. Fortune reported ground beef hit $6.89 a pound in July, up 10% year-over-year. Bloomberg, via Transport Topics, cited Bureau of Labor Statistics figures putting the July average at $7.116 a pound, calling that near an all-time high. Newsweek separately reported beef and veal prices rose 9.4% over the 12 months ending in July, with ground beef up 9% and uncooked steaks up 9.6%, all far outpacing the overall 3.4% inflation rate.

The underlying supply problem is not in dispute. The U.S. cattle herd stood at 86.2 million head at the start of 2026, the lowest count since 1951, according to USDA data cited by Fortune. Drought has hit roughly 75% of the country's livestock, and the New World screwworm parasite has caused confirmed livestock infestations that led the administration to temporarily bar Mexican cattle imports in July before reopening the border on Aug. 24.

The Political Backdrop

The probe builds on a meatpacker investigation Trump ordered in November, when he accused Cargill, Tyson, JBS and National Beef, which together handle roughly 85% of U.S. beef processing according to BigGo Finance, of "Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation." Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in May the department had already reviewed more than 3 million documents and interviewed ranchers and processors, per the Epoch Times.

The two biggest packers are meanwhile losing money, not raking in windfalls tied to the shortage. Tyson announced Aug. 13 it's closing two beef plants and selling a third, a week after reporting a $138 million operating loss in its beef segment. JBS halted beef processing at its Pennsylvania plant the following day after reporting a $279 million adjusted operating loss in North American beef, according to Fortune.

To push prices down before November's midterms, Trump scrapped 40% tariffs on Brazilian beef, opened a 300,000-metric-ton, 90-day tariff-free import window with a commitment the beef sell 25% below market price, and expanded Argentine beef quotas. Ranchers pushed back, warning of disease risk from Argentine imports, according to Fortune.

That pushback has turned into open Republican friction with the White House. Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Fox News his cattle-state constituents feel Trump "pulled the rug right out from underneath" them by flooding the market with foreign beef. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told Keloland he supports the goal of lower prices but doesn't "think this is the way to do it." An anonymous House Republican told Fox News Digital lawmakers want to tell ranchers "this administration is fighting for you" and currently can't.

What's Actually Been Proven, and What Hasn't

No charges, findings, or conclusions have been announced against any meatpacker or retailer. The letters are requests for records, not accusations of wrongdoing, and the DOJ has released no timeline for when it expects responses or results.

One reasonable reading, favored by the administration, is that concentrated market power at both the packing and retail level is worsening a supply shock into unaffordable grocery bills, and subpoenaing pricing data is a legitimate way to test that. A separate, equally reasonable reading is that the shortage is overwhelmingly a supply problem: drought, screwworm, and a 75-year-low herd. An antitrust probe launched days before Trump's own tariff waivers drew backlash from his base could be aimed at deflecting blame rather than fixing herd math that takes years to correct.

Retailers and packers could still be found to have padded margins during the shortage, while the herd shortage remains the dominant driver regardless of what the DOJ finds. The unresolved question is which one the data actually shows, and neither the department nor the retailers have said when the public will find out.