July 4th BBQ Burn: Beef Prices Remain at Record Highs as Trump Continues to Prioritize Anything But Americans’ Unaffordable Groceries
July 1, 2026 — Unwilling to take on the big meatpacking monopolies, President Trump has incorrectly blamed ranchers, the weather, and even his own trade policies for our nation’s record high beef prices. Yet despite cutting beef tariffs and authorizing record-high beef imports, the administration has failed to bring down beef prices for American consumers while accelerating the collapse of the American ranchers Trump claims to support, according to a new report released today by the American Economic Liberties Project’s Rethink Trade program.
California Senate Judiciary Committee Advances COMPETE Act, Bringing Landmark Antitrust Reform One Step Closer to Governor’s Desk
July 1, 2026 — Despite a tidal wave of opposition spending by Big Tech and corporate lobbyists, the California Senate Judiciary Committee today advanced the COMPETE Act (AB 1776, Aguiar-Curry), which represents the most significant expansion of state antitrust enforcement in more than a century.
As July 1 USMCA Review Looms, Rethink Trade Calls for Major Improvements Necessary to Justify Any Extension; Report Shows Pact’s Outcomes Are Opposite of Trump’s Rosy Promises
June 30, 2026 — On July 1, USTR Jamieson Greer meets with Mexican and Canadian trade ministers for a mandatory 6-year USMCA review. If they do not agree to the 16-year extension of the deal set forth in the text, which is not expected, the three must meet by July 1 annually for the next ten years. Already negotiations to modify USMCA have started with Mexico. On July 1, 2036 USMCA sunsets unless the countries have agreed to extend some version of it. Lori Wallach, director of the American Economic Liberty Project’s Rethink Trade said:
NextEra-Dominion Merger Designed to Cash In on Broken Utility Regulation, New Economic Liberties Analysis Finds
June 29, 2026 — As NextEra Energy pursues its $67 billion proposed acquisition of Dominion Energy, the American Economic Liberties Project released a new analysis arguing that Americans are being sold a massive utility monopoly on the promise of AI demand that may never materialize. The deal would create what the companies describe as the largest utility in the nation, with 10 million customer accounts and 110 gigawatts of generation, locking customers who have no ability to switch providers into decades of guaranteed-return spending on infrastructure that may not be needed.
Economic Liberties Urges Mamdani, NYC Public Schools to Place Moratorium On Classroom AI
June 26, 2026 — Following a New York City Council committee joint hearing on tech in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS), during which Council Member Eric Dinowitz introduced two separate measures to require annual reporting on AI tools approved for use in schools and quarterly reporting on data breaches, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement: