US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack declared recent price increases were the result of businesses taking advantage of the Covid crisis, with supply-chain disruptions pushing up food costs, reports Bloomberg News.
Food prices have skyrocketed globally in the past year as economies recover from the Covid crisis.
'The question is whether all those increases are directly correlated to those causes or whether people are taking advantage,' said Mr Vilsack.
'There are some comments I've read - attributed to some folks in the agribusiness world - where they're suggesting or at least intimating that this is an opportunity to raise prices beyond what is necessary to deal with supply-chain challenges they may face.'
The rise in food costs has contributed to us inflation accelerating to 7.5 per cent.
'If they come down, will they come down commensurate with how much they went up?' said Mr Vilsack.
'If they don't, that would suggest there's something more afoot here. People should be asking those questions.'
Wholesale prices in Chicago surged 59 per cent during the recent avocado ban.
'I would raise some serious questions about that cost increase given the fact it was obvious this was a short-term situation,' said Mr Vilsack.
'There's no justification for that. None.'
Mr Vilsack rejected a call from Republicans for 'damages' from China to address shortfalls in purchases of US exports.
'That's interesting coming from the party that basically caused the problem to begin with,' said Mr Vilsack.
'That's not an answer. The answer is negotiations. The answer is looking for ways in which we can strengthen the trading relationship in agriculture with the Chinese. I'm confident we'll see a better performance.'
SeaNews Turkey
Food prices have skyrocketed globally in the past year as economies recover from the Covid crisis.
'The question is whether all those increases are directly correlated to those causes or whether people are taking advantage,' said Mr Vilsack.
'There are some comments I've read - attributed to some folks in the agribusiness world - where they're suggesting or at least intimating that this is an opportunity to raise prices beyond what is necessary to deal with supply-chain challenges they may face.'
The rise in food costs has contributed to us inflation accelerating to 7.5 per cent.
'If they come down, will they come down commensurate with how much they went up?' said Mr Vilsack.
'If they don't, that would suggest there's something more afoot here. People should be asking those questions.'
Wholesale prices in Chicago surged 59 per cent during the recent avocado ban.
'I would raise some serious questions about that cost increase given the fact it was obvious this was a short-term situation,' said Mr Vilsack.
'There's no justification for that. None.'
Mr Vilsack rejected a call from Republicans for 'damages' from China to address shortfalls in purchases of US exports.
'That's interesting coming from the party that basically caused the problem to begin with,' said Mr Vilsack.
'That's not an answer. The answer is negotiations. The answer is looking for ways in which we can strengthen the trading relationship in agriculture with the Chinese. I'm confident we'll see a better performance.'
SeaNews Turkey
