The high -ranking Democrats are pressing Pepsi to obtain information about their prices, renewing the pressure on a large consumption brand as inflation concerns persist under the new republican administration.
The letter, sent on Sunday night by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and representative Jerry Nadler of New York and seen by NBC News, asks Pepsi to explain the alleged disparities in the prices charged by the large chains versus smaller retailers. He asks the giant of drinks and snacks to respond before May 25 with details about how he charges retailers for their products, and if the company or its subsidiaries offer preferential discounts or advertising opportunities to large chains.
“Pepsi’s actions may have harmed the capacity of local mothers and pop stores to compete against large -box supermarket chains, which leads to higher prices and less options for consumers,” they wrote in the letter, which was also signed by seven other Democratic legislators.
A Pepsico spokesman did not immediately respond to a comment request.
The letter revives an Biden era approach in the increase in prices. While the Democrats blamed corporate greed and its supposed anti -competitive behavior for contributing to consumer price increases, Republicans are more focused on trade. They accuse foreign countries of “cheating” Americans and back tariffs as a solution.
The Federal Commerce Commission demanded Pepsi on January 17, the last business day of the administration of President Joe Biden, accusing the sandwich and the giant of the “competence of soft drinks of soft drinks” to the allegedly granting a more favorable Big-Box retailer than its rivals.
The Commission cited a 1936 law that had a large extent fallen from compliance since the deregulator impulse of the 1980s, claiming that Pepsi violated the rules against offering buyers competitors different prices or promotional resources. The FTC used the same statute in December to demand an important liquor distributor for an alleged price discrimination that, he said, favored large grocery chains on smaller competitors.
An FTC spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Pepsi retreated the accusations of the regulators in January, saying that the lawsuit appeared in a “partisan way” and promised to fight in court. “Pepsico practices are in line with industry standards and we do not favor certain clients by offering discounts or promotional support to some customers and not for others,” he said in a statement at that time.
The power over the FTC has changed dramatically in the few months since the case of price discrimination was presented.
President Donald Trump fired two of the agency’s democratic commissioners in March, a measure that both officials have criticized as illegal. Some Republican legislators are pressing to transfer the authority of the Commission on antitrust matters only to the Department of Justice. That idea is supported by multibillion advisor Trump and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who is now reducing his role by directing deep cost cuts between the federal government.
Andrew Ferguson, a Republican whom Trump raised from an earlier role as one of the five FTC commissioners to succeed the person designated to Biden Lina Khan in the first place, he publicly expressed objections in January for the decision to sue Pepsi.
Ferguson told CNBC in April: “I want a vigorous antimonopoolio application,” and added that “monopoly is not good for innovation.” But he also asked for deregulation, saying: “The flow of treatment is part of how this country grows.”
While the Biden administration was “very, very suspicious” of mergers and acquisitions, Ferguson said: “I am not at all. I am a pro-antitrust application, and I am pro-innovation and growth, and we have to achieve that balance.”
The renewed democratic pressure occurs in the midst of the growing concerns that the highest costs and economic uncertainty threaten consumer spending. Pepsi is among a handful of important companies that have recently adjusted or retired their financial prospects, citing economic turbulence related to the current commercial war of Trump.
Pepsi recently reported softer sales of the first quarter in North America, where food and drink volumes slid 1% and 3%, respectively.
“Consumers have remained aware of the value in all brands and channels, since the cumulative impacts of inflationary pressures have tensioned budgets and purchase patterns of altered foods,” executives told investors at the end of last month, warning that volatility in global trade would probably increase their costs.
