What Food Industry Can Expect After Biden Antitrust Order

In a co-authored article for Law360, antitrust partners Alicia Batts, Dylan Carson and Kathy Osborn and associate Anna Behrmann explain what food and agriculture companies need to know about President Biden’s executive order, which is intended to promote competition in numerous sectors of the U.S. economy through 72 initiatives.

First, the authors describe the general impacts of the executive order regarding the enforcement of competition laws across the U.S. economy. While not explicitly targeting the food and agriculture industries, broad initiatives include merger guidelines, a White House Competition Council and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rulemaking.

The authors then describe six initiatives that specifically encourage vigorous enforcement of the antitrust laws in food and agricultural markets by the Department of Justice, FTC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Next, the authors share responses from food and agriculture companies and how the executive order will lead to opportunities to be heard about changes to the rules for competition in their sectors.

In conclusion, the authors highlight changes that food and agriculture companies should expect, such as antitrust risk assessments, merger planning and relationships with farmers and grocers.

The full article is available for Law360 subscribers.