WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Friday accused meatpacking companies of driving up U.S. beef prices, which have hit records, through manipulation and collusion, and ordered the Justice Department to investigate.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an X post the probe was under way and being run by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater. Slater leads the Justice Department's antitrust division, which investigates price-fixing and other practices that stifle competition.

No targets of the probe were identified. Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA and National Beef Packing Company slaughter about 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle that become steaks, beef roasts and other cuts of meat in supermarkets.

In a post on Truth Social, the president said he directed the Justice Department to launch "an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation."

The move comes as Americans are focused on pocketbook worries, like food prices that have outpaced inflation. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in late October found that 40% of respondents said cost-of-living was the most important election issue.

The Department of Justice is also probing whether egg producers conspired to inflate the price of eggs.

Beef prices set records in 2025 after a years-long drought burned up pasture lands and hiked costs of cattle feed, forcing ranchers to slash the nation's herd to the smallest level in nearly 75 years. Consumer demand has remained generally strong despite high prices.

A pound of ground chuck beef cost retail consumers about $6.33 in September, up 13.5% from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Ranchers have long complained about consolidation in the packing industry. Cargill declined to comment. Spokespeople for the other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"We need transparency, accountability, and a fair market that rewards those who actually raise and produce our beef - not the corporate middlemen gaming the system," Rollins said in a post on X.

The Meat Institute, a trade group representing meatpackers, said the beef industry was heavily regulated and that market transactions were transparent.

"Despite high consumer prices for beef, beef packers have been losing money because the price of cattle is at record highs," said Julie Anna Potts, the institute's CEO.

The administration of former President Joe Biden also blamed meatpacking companies for rising food prices.

JBS USA is owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, while Brazil's Marfrig Global Foods SA holds a controlling stake in National Beef Packing Company.

"This entire industry is highly concentrated and well beyond the level that's normally considered a harm to the economy," said Bill Bullard, CEO of cattle producers' group R-CALF USA.

PRICE-FIXING LAWSUITS

Tyson, Cargill and JBS have paid tens of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits accusing the companies of conspiring to inflate U.S. beef prices by restricting supply. They have denied wrongdoing.

The Justice Department's antitrust division has both civil and criminal investigative authority, and can issue subpoenas for documents and witness testimony in its investigations into suspected anticompetitive conduct.

Slater, a former economic adviser to Vice President JD Vance, has said the division will focus on "pocketbook issues" facing consumers, such as food, housing and transportation.

Bipartisan calls for antitrust enforcement in the packing industry have mounted in recent years.

At a hearing in June, Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, and Cory Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, called for antitrust enforcement in the sector.

"It's time to fix this broken system once and for all," said Angela Huffman, president of advocacy group Farm Action.

Trump recently angered ranchers by urging them to lower cattle prices and suggesting the country could increase low-tariff imports of Argentine beef to reduce U.S. beef prices. Economists said increased imports from Argentina would not meaningfully lower grocery store prices for U.S. consumers.

In August, Trump implemented a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods that slowed imports of a major source of beef that was mixed with U.S. hamburger meat, further tightening supplies.