Slater delivered the speech, titled, “Agriculture, Antitrust, and Chesterton’s Fence,” at the Drake University Law School.
The assistant attorney general has explained how the Trump administration’s “America First Antitrust” policy is about empowering “America’s forgotten men and women.” In September, she laid out how antitrust policy can work to ensure that information flows freely in American democracy and that artificial intelligence is free of bias.
She said that while many in GenZ remain disillusioned, not sure if they can get married, have a family, or buy a house, the Trump administration is working to right the ship, and antitrust plays a vital role in ensuring they can fulfill their dreams.
Slater said, according to remarks obtained by Breitbart News:
The FTC knew in 1948 what we at the DOJ Antitrust Division believe to be true today. Robust antitrust enforcement has a key role to play in defending our free-enterprise system from monopoly and collusion that can stifle competition, making it harder for consumers, workers, and small businesses to survive and thrive. Stated differently, antitrust enforcers protect competition for all Americans and their American Dream. We are quite literally the free market cop on the beat. [Emphasis added]
She continued, noting the American people back antitrust enforcement to bring about lower prices, and four out of five agree that big tech has stifled innovation:
The American people today agree with these early conservative trustbusters. Rasmussen polling from earlier this month underscores the belief in antitrust enforcement to protect free market competition. Asked whether large corporations have too much power and the government should do more to enforce antitrust laws, 70% of voters agreed. Another 66% believe it is likely or somewhat likely that strong enforcement of antitrust law would result in lower prices for consumers. And nearly 80% agree with President Trump’s remarks upon my nomination, that “Big Tech has run wild for years, stifling competition in our most innovative sector.” These views are remarkably bipartisan as well, with Republican voters feeling just as strongly as Democrats.
Slater noted that today’s conservatives do not solely focus on the undue influence of big government; conservatives also remain concerned about the influence of private power in the hands of too few. She noted that many younger people refer to this as “Tyranny.com” and “Tyranny.gov.”
She went on to explain where American agriculture and antitrust converge, and what the Justice Department may do to help ensure American farmers can fulfill their American dream:
Under the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act, the DOJ Antitrust Division is tasked with enforcing the antitrust laws in three core areas: collusion, monopolization, and mergers. These laws cut across sectors, meaning they apply across our economy, including to agriculture. We also have a role to play in enforcing the Packers and Stockyards Act (“PSA”). This legislation, enacted in 1921, has provisions that are similar to the antitrust laws, but it also has provisions that prohibit meat packer conduct that is deceptive, unfair, or unjustly discriminatory. We share enforcement authority of the PSA with the USDA. USDA has the investigatory powers. For most violations involving poultry, USDA must refer the matter to DOJ if legal action is necessary. Otherwise, for other livestock, the USDA can investigate the matter or refer to DOJ at its discretion.
She noted the Trump administration, in its first term, investigated mergers and acquisitions activity in the seed sector.
In President Trump’s second administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Justice Department in September struck a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to protect competition in key agriculture markets such as seed, fertilizer, feed, fuel, equipment, and other essential goods.
Slater continued:
According to USDA’s data, since 2020, seed expenses have risen 18 percent, fuel and oil costs increased 32 percent, fertilizer expenses increased 37 percent, and interest expenditures spiked 73 percent. The reasons underpinning these numbers vary and need to be investigated and analyzed, but the numbers themselves should give everyone pause. At the time of the MOU, I noted that “Antitrust enforcement ensures free market competition for agricultural inputs, lowering costs for farmers and prices for consumers. America’s farmers deserve nothing less than the best the Antitrust Division and USDA can do to promote competitive markets that free them to feed America.” This MOU is a positive start, but more is required to operationalize it, which brings me to today. [Emphasis added]
On Wednesday, she announced that Zachary Trotter will serve as the career head of the Chicago office, alongside Ben Christenson, who will serve as the assistant chief for civil enforcement in the Chicago office. Trotter and Christenson will be tasked with bringing forth important cases aligned with the Trump administration’s policy on antitrust.
“My father-in-law Dale is a rancher in Oregon, and I know from personal experience how much it means to ranchers and farmers to keep the family business going from generation to generation. This is the rancher’s American Dream,” Slater concluded in her speech. “But this can only happen if the current generation can keep their ranch operating in free, fair, and competitive markets. For this to become reality, our great farmers, ranchers, and small businesses like independent seed dealers need an antitrust cop on the beat.”
She added, “We at the DOJ Antitrust Division stand ready to serve them with open hearts and, importantly, open minds.”
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