Wyden, Dexter Press Pepsi and Trump Administration Over Price Discrimination Scheme

Wyden, Dexter Press Pepsi and Trump Administration Over Price Discrimination Scheme

Oregon lawmakers raise concerns over politically-motivated dismissal of price discrimination lawsuit by FTC just months after Pepsi donated $500,000 to Trump's inauguration

Washington, D.C. - Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Maxine Dexter today said they are pressing PepsiCo about its discriminatory pricing practices that favored Walmart over small retailers and increased costs for consumers nationwide.

In a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, the Oregon lawmakers also raised concerns about possible political motivations in the FTC's decision to dismiss a lawsuit regarding Pepsi's discriminatory pricing, following a significant donation by the company to Donald Trump's inauguration.

In January 2025, just days before Trump took office, the FTC sued Pepsi for giving Walmart preferential pricing of its products that was not offered to smaller retailers across the country. An unredacted copy of the FTC complaint, unsealed last month, revealed that Pepsi gave Walmart unique promotional payments.

"This newly disclosed information reveals new details about Pepsi's troubling pricing practices, and also appears to indicate that Pepsi's responses to our previous inquiry into this matter were evasive and inaccurate," wrote the lawmakers to Pepsi Chair and CEO Ramon Laguarta.

"As food prices remain sky-high, the FTC should be enforcing the [law] to promote fair competition in the food industry, rather than giving dominant retailers and suppliers a free pass to continue discriminatory pricing practices that reduce consumer choices and raise prices," wrote the lawmakers to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson.

In their letter to the FTC, the lawmakers raised questions about why the FTC dismissed the complaint before the internal Pepsi documents cited in the complaint became public and whether the FTC dismissed the complaint due to political motivations. The lawmakers also urge the FTC to reopen its lawsuit against Pepsi and vigorously enforce the Robinson-Patman Act against other suppliers and retailers engaging in similar practices.

The letters were led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Representative Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. In addition to Wyden and Dexter, the letters were signed by Representatives Becca Balint, D-Vt., Summer Lee, D-Pa., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

The letter to Pepsi is here.

The letter to FTC is here.