Executive Order 14364 directs the Attorney General and the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to each create a Food Supply Chain Security Task Force to examine competition in U.S. food supply chains. The order was signed Dec. 6, 2025, and published in the Federal Register on Dec. 10, 2025.
The order says an affordable and secure food supply is vital to national and economic security. It says anti-competitive behavior, especially by foreign-controlled corporations, threatens the stability and affordability of that supply. It also says certain companies that supply food in the United States have resolved civil cases accusing them of fixing prices by paying tens of millions of dollars.
The order lists meat processing, seed, fertilizer, and equipment as sectors with similar vulnerabilities to price fixing and other anti-competitive practices. It says the administration will determine whether such behavior, especially by foreign-controlled companies, raises the cost of living and will address any related national security threat to food supply chains.
Each task force is to investigate food-related industries in its agency’s established areas of expertise, the order says. The task forces are to decide whether anti-competitive behavior exists in food supply chains. They are also to decide whether foreign entities’ control of food-related industries is raising food prices domestically or posing a national or economic security threat.
The order directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission chairman to remedy any anti-competitive behavior the investigations uncover. Those steps may include enforcement actions and proposals for new regulatory approaches. If the Justice Department task force finds evidence of criminal collusion, the order says the Attorney General shall start criminal proceedings as appropriate, including grand jury investigations.
The task forces are to jointly brief the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader, and the chairs of congressional committees with jurisdiction. The order requires one briefing within 180 days of its date and another within 365 days. The briefings are to summarize progress and, when relevant after consulting that aide — the assistant to the President who is also deputy chief of staff covering legislative, political, and public affairs — any actions they recommend that Congress take.
The order bars those briefings from covering ongoing investigations, prosecutions, regulatory actions, or litigation. They also may not include non-public information about a food-related industry examined under the order.
The order says it is to be carried out consistent with applicable law and only if appropriations are available. It states that it does not create a right or benefit that anyone can enforce against the United States, its agencies, or its officers. Publication costs are to be paid by the Department of Justice. The order does not say that it revokes or amends an earlier order.