Vice President Kamala Harris to target price gouging

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris is targeting high prices at the grocery store and says she will work to ban “price gouging” if elected. 

Harris is expected to roll out her economic policy agenda at a rally on Friday in Raleigh, N.C. and will detail her plan to advance a national ban on price gouging for food products and at grocery stores. 

She is also expected to announce that her administration will give the Federal Trade Commission and attorneys general the authority to prosecute companies that are artificially inflating the price of products. 

Inflation and high food prices have been a focal point of her campaign, and the Biden-Harris Administration has already been laying the groundwork for tackling the problem through the creation of a Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing.

That ad hoc group, which held its first public meeting at the beginning of August, includes representatives from the FTC and Department of Justice. 

At that meeting, FTC Chair Lina Khan and DOJ officials addressed a variety of consumer protection issues, but Khan noted that high grocery prices is an issue she hears about consistently from consumers. 

“Too often, people feel like too much of their paycheck is going toward covering the basics, like meat or eggs,” Khan said in the meeting, adding that it “still isn’t clear that Americans are fully getting the competitive, affordable prices that they deserve.”

Related:FTC to launch inquiry into high grocery prices

Khan said in that meeting that the strike force is launching an inquiry into why prices and profits by grocers have remained high as costs appear to be declining. 

“We have to use the full extent of our reviews to stop any corporate law breaking that inflates costs for American families,” she said. “This is essential work that will help ensure that Americans can be free from economic coercion and indignities in the marketplace.”

A week later, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced they are investigating Kroger’s use of digital price tags, saying that the devices could be used to gouge customers. 

Kroger denied the allegations in a statement: “Everything we do is designed to support this strategy, and customers are shopping more with Kroger now than ever because we are fighting inflation and providing great value. Any test of electronic shelf tags is to lower prices more for customers where it matters most. To suggest otherwise is not true.”

Kroger and other chains such as Walmart and Schnuck Markets have also deployed electronic shelving label technology, according to a press release released by Warren and Casey. 

Related:Democrats accuse Kroger of using digital price tags to gouge consumers

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Vice President Kamala Harris says if elected for president she will go after those involved in price gouging. She is targeting the high prices at grocery stores, but is that who she should be going after? Let us know your thoughts in the comments at the end of this story. Comment below or contact the SN staff at [email protected].