Harris to push for lower grocery prices as Trump brands policy ‘communist’

Unjust inflation by retailers set to be banned at federal level if the Democratic nominee wins presidency in upcoming election

Kamala Harris has pushed for lower grocery prices with a new ban on “price gouging”, as Donald Trump criticised her for supporting “communist” price controls.
The vice-president has announced a series of economic policy proposals ahead of a speech on Friday, as both presidential contenders turn their campaigns to the issue of inflation.
Price gouging, a term for unjustified inflation by retailers, is set to be banned at the federal level under a Harris presidency with a new policy targeting corporations.
Polls show that voters see inflation as one of the most significant problems facing Americans in the run-up to November’s presidential election.
The price of household staples including eggs and milk rose by 11 per cent in 2022, and another 5 per cent in 2023.
Inflation in the economy more widely has since returned almost to pre-pandemic levels, at 2.9 per cent, compared with the UK’s 2.2 per cent in the year to July 2024.
Ms Harris’s campaign cited the small number of firms that produce the majority of American meat as an example of how corporate power has pushed up prices.
The campaign said: “Price fluctuations are normal in free markets, but Harris recognises there is a big difference between fair pricing and the excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business that Americans have seen in the food and grocery industry.”
However, economists believe high inflation over the last three years has been driven by a variety of factors, including increased consumer demand amid low interest rates and supply chain issues.
Ms Harris’s campaign has not yet set out exactly how a price gouging ban would work, although it said the rules would be enforced by state attorneys and the Federal Trade Commission.
Trump, who launched his own economic policy offering on Thursday surrounded by grocery products, said a ban on price increases would amount to “communist” economic policy from the federal government.
“We call it the ‘Maduro plan’, like something straight out of Venezuela or the Soviet Union,” he said, in a reference to Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president.
“[The plan] is an admission that her economic policies have totally failed and caused really a catastrophe for our country, and beyond that, a catastrophe in the world.”
A poll for The Telegraph by Redfield & Wilton Strategies earlier this month found that the economy is the most important issue for the largest group of voters in all seven swing states.
About 70 per cent of voters in the battleground states said that the cost of living would be “extremely important” in determining their vote.
The largest group of voters in all seven states, including those where Ms Harris is ahead overall, said they trusted Trump more on the economy.
In a press conference in New Jersey on Thursday, Trump criticised the Biden administration’s record on economic policy, including the president’s industrial policy, which has been nicknamed “Bidenomics”.
“Kamala Harris is a radical California liberal who broke the economy, broke the border and broke the world, frankly,” Trump said.
Earlier this month, Trump accused Ms Harris of stealing one of his flagship policies, after she announced she supported ending taxes on tips received by hospitality workers.
She announced support for the policy on Saturday, months after Trump said he would make the ban a priority of his second administration if he wins back power in November.