The United States Department of Justice and seventeen state attorneys general have proposed a settlement with three major egg producers following accusations of market manipulation.

美國司法部與十七位州檢察總長在指控市場操縱後，建議與三家大型雞蛋生產商達成和解。

The legal case focuses on claims that Cal-Maine Foods, Versova, and Hickman's Egg Ranch worked together from June 2022 to March 2025 to raise prices. The Department of Justice asserted that these companies coordinated their price reports to Urner Barry Publications to artificially increase wholesale costs, which in turn raised prices for consumers. Under the proposed terms, the companies will pay $3.3 million in fines and donate about 53 million eggs to nonprofit organizations. However, the agreement does not require the companies to admit that they did anything wrong.

本案焦點在於指控 Cal-Maine Foods、Versova 與 Hickman's Egg Ranch 在 2022 年 6 月至 2025 年 3 月期間共同抬高價格。司法部主張這些公司協調向 Urner Barry Publications 提交的價格報告，以人為提高批發成本，進而推高消費者的購買價格。根據擬議條款，這些公司將支付 330 萬美元罰款，並向非營利組織捐贈約 5,300 萬顆雞蛋。然而，該協議並不要求這些公司承認有任何違規行為。

There are different views regarding why prices rose during this period. The producers emphasized that costs increased due to external factors, such as avian influenza—which destroyed 95% of Hickman's flock—as well as pandemic disruptions and higher feed costs. In contrast, the Department of Justice suggested that prices only dropped significantly after the federal investigation began in March 2025. Furthermore, some advocacy groups, such as Farm Action, argued that the settlement is too small to be a deterrent, noting that Cal-Maine reported a profit of $1.22 billion in 2025.

關於此期間價格上漲的原因，存在不同觀點。生產商強調成本增加是由外部因素引起，例如禽流感（導致 Hickman's 95% 的雞群被摧毀）、疫情導致的混亂以及飼料成本增加。相反，司法部指出，價格直到 2025 年 3 月聯邦調查開始後才顯著下降。此外，如 Farm Action 等倡議團體認為，考量到 Cal-Maine 在 2025 年獲利 12.2 億美元，此項和解金額太低，無法起到威懾作用。

These price changes became a major political issue during the 2024 elections. The cost of eggs was used as a key example of inflation, and President Donald Trump used this to argue that rising grocery costs were hurting American families. Although the administration aimed to lower these costs, prices hit a record high of $6.23 per dozen in March 2025. Consequently, prices only began to fall to under $2.20 by May 2026 as production levels recovered.

這些價格變動在 2024 年選舉期間成為重大政治議題。雞蛋成本被視為通貨膨脹的關鍵案例，川普總統以此論證雜貨成本的上漲正在損害美國家庭。儘管政府旨在降低成本，但價格在 2025 年 3 月達到每打 6.23 美元的歷史高點。因此，直到 2026 年 5 月生產水平恢復，價格才開始下跌至 2.20 美元以下。

The three producers have accepted the settlement, which includes new antitrust compliance programs to ensure they do not communicate with competitors about pricing in the future.

三家生產商已接受和解方案，其中包含新的反壟斷合規計畫，以確保他們未來不會與競爭對手就價格問題進行溝通。