Can’t Find Baby Formula? Blame Tariffs and the FDA – By Eric Boehm and Regan Taylor (Reason) / June 3, 2022
This crisis is the result of protectionism, regulation, and central planning.
President Joe Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act and ordered the U.S. military to fly pallets of baby formula into the country from Europe.
But if the federal government just backed off and let the market function like it’s supposed to, we wouldn’t need military intervention or emergency policies designed for war to stock grocery store shelves with baby formula. This crisis is largely the result of protectionism, regulation, and central planning of the sort that both Democrats and Republicans want more of in Washington.
Reporters like CNN’s Jake Tapper have been pressing officials to explain why the government didn’t respond more quickly to this shortage—but the actual solution is for the government to be less involved entirely.
A better question is why didn’t the Biden administration clear the way for the private sector to react to price signals, like it does in every other industry? Food suppliers would have started stockpiling European-made formulas months ago if only U.S. tariffs and regulations weren’t an obstacle.
CONTINUE > https://reason.com/video/2022/06/03/cant-find-baby-formula-blame-tariffs-and-the-fda/
