Harris Insiders Reportedly Walk Back Claim That Price Control Plan Will Cut Prices

Insiders in Vice President Kamala Harris’ orbit are reportedly walking back her suggestion that her proposed grocery “price gouging” ban would lower prices for consumers, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

Harris debuted the “price gouging” ban proposal during a Friday speech in North Carolina, and she was roundly lambasted for what many criticize as essentially price controls. However, anonymous sources familiar with Harris’ thinking clarified the policy to the NYT, saying that the “price gouging” ban would only actually take effect in emergency situations and thus would not be likely to bring prices down.

it is difficult for Harris to sell her proposal as an effective way to deliver relief to everyday Americans while her team downplays its impacts as others with knowledge of her thinking tell the press that the policy may not actually have any considerable impacts at all.

The Harris proposal would be specifically focused on the food and grocery industries, and it would not be determined by any specific numerical targets or barometers, sources familiar with Harris’ thinking told the NYT. It would also apparently only kick into effect in circumstances like the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster or in the event of another pandemic, and since the U.S. is not facing such conditions at the moment, the plan “might actually not do anything to bring down grocery prices right now.”

Harris did not provide many specifics on her plan to prevent food companies and grocers from “price gouging” in her North Carolina speech, though she noted that the plan “will include new penalties for opportunistic companies that exploit crises and break the rules.” Throughout the speech, Harris implied strongly that her various proposals, including subsidizing housing demand, will make life more affordable for ordinary, middle-class Americans who are facing the sting of persistent inflation.

The lack of details about her price gouging ban puts Harris in a political bind, according to the NYT: it is difficult for Harris to sell her proposal as an effective way to deliver relief to everyday Americans while her team downplays its impacts as others with knowledge of her thinking tell the press that the policy may not actually have any considerable impacts at all.

While former President Donald Trump, economists and the editorial boards of The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post sharply criticized Harris’ Friday proposal as collectivist and poor policy, some in the corporate media, as well as other Democrats, have tried to defend the policy or suggest that criticisms are spawning from partisan GOP talking points.

“She’s not for price-fixing; that’s a distortion — that’s a Republican talking point,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said during a Tuesday appearance on CNBC. “She’s saying, go after companies in a narrow way, if there’s evidence.”

The Harris campaign did not respond immediately to a request for comment.