President Joe Biden has launched a new initiative to help fight price gouging, announcing that his administration will address corporations charging prices he says have remained artificially high.
To address retailers and corporations that are continuing to take more from customers, Biden has launched a new White House supply chain initiative.
The action from Biden comes as the rate of inflation continues to cool and shipping costs have fallen.
“Any corporation that has not brought their prices back down, even as inflation has come down, even as the supply chains have been rebuilt, it’s time to stop the price gouging,” Biden said in a statement. “Give the American consumer a break.”
While inflation has cooled from last year’s record highs, it still doesn’t mean that prices are falling, only that prices are rising at a lower rate.
Biden has continued to try and cut costs through his economic agenda, Bidenomics. The president has also tried to slash junk fees from airlines, ticket sellers, and other companies that he says take advantage of Americans.
“Junk fees take real money out of the pockets of average Americans,” Biden said Monday. “They can add up to hundreds of dollars, weighing down family budgets and making it harder for families to pay their bills.”
But the latest move looks to help more Americans, as many still struggle to recover after the economy took a nosedive.
“We understand that people are still not feeling it. We get that,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
Prices for some goods have decreased since last year, as made evident by an increase in online sales over Black Friday weekend. Sales rose a total of 7.5%, though retail sales did miss a step.
Biden said while announcing the move on Monday that despite falling inflation, consumers “feel like they’re being played for suckers. Which they are.
Now, to ensure Americans aren’t being taken advantage of, Biden’s new Supply Chain Resilience Council will look to keep the momentum of recovery going.