The Biden administration is taking aim at grocery chains, suggesting they lower prices as their costs decline. “Our message is a very clear one that the president has and will continue to lean into, which is, if you’re a company whose input prices have come down and you’re not passing those savings along to the consumer, he will call you out,” said Jared Bernstein, the chair of President Joe Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers. “We’ve seen elevated (profit) margins, particularly in the grocery sector, and have taken note that there needs to be more pass-through there (to consumers).”
A White House analysis of Census data shows food-and-beverage retailers’ revenues as a share of their costs have risen sharply from before the pandemic to a level not seen since the mid-2000s, a measure they say more directly tracks retail mark-ups.
“We’re also working hard to lower costs – actual lower costs, not just lower inflation,” said Bernstein, citing eggs, milk, appliances, airfares, used cars and gas as particularly sensitive areas for Americans.
