Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Strengthening Antitrust Enforcement for Meatpacking Act of 2023”.
Strengthening Antitrust Enforcement for Meatpacking Act of 2023
A BILL
To amend the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, to make unlawful acquisitions that would create monopolies, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Unlawful activities under Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921
Section 202 of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 192), is amended—
in each of subsections (a) through (f), by striking “; or” at the end and inserting a period;
in subsection (e) (as amended by paragraph (1)), by inserting “, in accordance with subsection (b)” before the period at the end;
in subsection (f)—
by striking “(1)”;
by striking “or (2)”; and
by striking “(3)”;
in subsection (g), by striking “made unlawful by subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e)” and inserting “described in paragraphs (1) through (5)”;
by redesignating subsections (a) through (g) as paragraphs (1) through (7), respectively, and indenting appropriately;
by striking the section designation and all that follows through “It shall be unlawful” in the matter preceding paragraph (1) (as so redesignated) and inserting the following:
“202. Unlawful activities
“(a) In general—It shall be unlawful”
in subsection (a) (as so designated), in the matter preceding paragraph (1) (as so redesignated), by striking “to:” and inserting “to carry out the following activities:”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(b) Acquisition creating a monopoly
“(1) In general—For purposes of subsection (a)(5), an acquisition shall be deemed to create a monopoly if the acquisition would—
“(A) result in a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index greater than 1,800 in any relevant market; or
“(B) increase the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index by more than 100 in any relevant market.
“(2) Clayton Act violation—Any acquisition deemed to create a monopoly under paragraph (1) shall be considered a violation of section 7 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18).”