Executive Order Establishes Federal Task Forces to Examine Competition in the American Food Supply Chain

         Washington DC, December 6, 2025

A new executive order has been signed, and its contents have been released to the public by The White House; the order directs The United States Department of Justice and The Federal trade Commission to establish Food Supply Chain Security Task Forces. The order states that these task forces are being created to examine the condition of competition within key segments of the American food supply chain, and explains that certain industries, such as meat processing, seed, fertilizer production, and agricultural equipment manufacturing hold concentrated positions within the national economy and may present vulnerability should anti-competitive behavior exist. The order instructs task forces to investigate whether price fixing, or other forms of unfair restraint of trade, appear in these sectors, and to take the appropriate enforcement action if the investigations uncover such conduct.

            The order describes the purpose of the task forces as protective rather than accusatory; it sets forth that the stability of the national food supply is an essential interest of the United States and that anti-competitive behavior within these industries, if it exists, could cause risks to the national economic security. It uses words like: investigate, identify, determine; it does not use words like: confirm, allege or accuse. The order doesn’t identify any individual company or group of companies, and it doesn’t claim that illegal price fixing has taken place; it doesn’t state that foreign controlled firms have committed wrongdoing: it states (only) that these matters are to be examined.

            The order also grants The United States Department of Justice and The Federal Trade Commission authority to pursue enforcement under existing law, if their investigations uncover anti-competitive conduct. It instructs the two agencies to report their findings and to recommend additional regulatory measures if such steps are justified, but the order doesn’t direct enforcement actions at the present moment, and it does not claim that specific entities have violated law. It only clarifies that enforcement may occur in the future if evidence is discovered. The Executive Order further describes the food supply chain as a matter of national economic security; this language doesn’t allege that a security breach occurred, and it does not suggest that the food supply is presently compromised. The order (also) doesn’t assert that foreign adversaries have engaged in unlawful control, it expresses, only, that the integrity of the food supply is vital and that government must understand whether concentration within the industries presents risks.

            The record is clear here: the executive order creates task forces, directs investigations, authorizes enforcement only if investigations produce evidence, names no company, alleges no wrongdoing, accuses no industry, and offers no findings. It simply sets forth a framework for inquiry and leaves the results of that inquiry to future reports by responsible agencies.

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Sources

• THE WHITE HOUSE
• THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
• THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
• THE FEDERAL REGISTER