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public service log these other television providers. giving you a front receipt to democracy. >> president biden spoke to reporters ahead of a meeting with the white house competition counsel he announced the consumer financial finalizing ae cap credit card late fees to roughly $8 and so the current average 0)) of $32. as part of the initiative to current crackdown on junk fees agriculture secretary defense secretary lloyd austin also talk about their departments and how they are promoting competition. this runs about 20 minutes.

[background noises] the president of the united states accompanied by director of consumer financial bureau.■çl >> good afternoon. whether it is a credit card bill, internet bill, grocery bill, or anything else in a monthly budget, president biden has been focused on promoting competition. at lowering costs and stopping profiteering. today we are taking action to stop excessive fees in the banking industry. we are closing a loophole■ abusd by the credit card industry for

years to harvest billions of dollars in junk fees. reducing the typical late fee from $32 down to $8 saving americans an estimated $10 billion each this is in addition to so many other action the president is announcing today to crackdown on junk and help consumers save real money. over the last decade credit card giants have been hiking late evn lockstep. even as technology has brought many of their cts have raised interest rates, squeezing american families out of an extra $25 billion in interest chaes last year alone. that's why we are working across government to get you a better deal to make it easier to switch from your height rate credit

cards, bait and switch tactics on some credit card rewards and going after the online that drive consumers to bigger credit card issuers will wsen service and terms for this work is critical some of the biggest players in so many industries are looking to get even bigger and gain more power to corner the market. thank you president biden for your leadership of putting a stop to thatg and other unfair practices that keep costs high for so many families but it is my please to turn it over to the president of the united states. [applause] >> it is good to see you all. it is nice to see you all in one spot. look director, thank you for that introduction freight thank you all for the work of counsel.

reducing cost results for american people. i have said before capitalism without competition is not capitalism. it is exploitation. that is what we have been seeing although some small scale in the minds of people you out of those numbers they are gigantic. we are taking it on. here's what is happening, the pandemic disrupted supply chain we all know that. drills up costs in automobiles. the prices haven't come down the state. the prophets have a sword it's time for tho p come back down. the good news is inflation is low's it has been three years.

most inflation rates in the world many have done the right thing. they felt lower cost for americans the supply chains are back to normal some companies are still not passing along the savings to their customers. many corporations are raising their prices, pad their profits, charging folks more and more for less and less. in fact soon small snack companies you won't even notice. when they charge are just as potato chips only there's a lot fewer chips in it. i will tell you who did notice, the cookie monster. he pointed out his cookies are getting smaller. paying the same price it. i was stunned when i found out that is what actually h companik fees. the hidden costs that are added to your bill without your knowledge. some companies have been caught breaking the while

overcharging consumers for the american people are tired of been played for suckers. it's one thing no matter how ri poor you don't like being taken advantage of. that is why today and launching new strikeforce to work on al pricing. to crackdown on companies to break the law while keeping prices high for american consumers. by the department of justice and the federal trade commission. keep prices high while engaging illegal practices are fraudulent or unfair, deceptive or anticompetitive will enforce the law. we will enforce the law. today announcing consumer financial protection bureau is finalizing the role. to help stop credit card companies from ripping you off with late fees. under the law banks are not supposed to charge late fees that are higher than the cost banks have to engage to collect

the late payment. we estimate banks are generating five times more in late fees then it cost to collect payments they are patting their profit hard-working americans $14 billion in 2022. with the announcement of this new rule late fees are down to $8, $8 instead of a current average of $32 and late fee payments. this collectively save families $10 billion in credit card late fees every year. that is the average of $220 in s annually for more than 45 million americans are typically have to pay late fees. that is a lot of money. let me close with this, fair competition is the key to my economic vision. for that middle out and bottom up not the top down. and it is working.

wages are up more than prices. unemployment has reached historical lows. families are finally prices are still too high and they should not be this hybrid that is why were going to have thing we can to keep costs for hard-working families with that i'm going to turn this over to the national economic council. i'm supposed to leave for a meeting with the business roundtable on the telephone i'm going to hang around and listen little bit. so with your permission i like to stay my staff will tell me when the dropdead hours occurs and passes me a note. thank you all for the work you're doing a really mean it makes a big difference. when i raise this issue a year or so ago with some of my team they thought no one is going to care much about it. they did not sit at my kitchen table while i was growing up. you care a whole lot when you been played for a soccer no matter how much money you have thank you whatouo you.

>> mr. president i think the members of your competition counsel have been very busy since you last met with them about six months ago. we also got a new member ambassador tie his during the competition counsel a well. i thought what we might do is start by hearing from several of your cabinet members about the efforts they have been undertaking over the last few months in the announcements they are making for it will start thf agriculture and then perhaps a austin to hear about the department of defense. >> mr. president very pleased to be here today to report on the progress usda has made under the competition executive order you signed and american families. first we finished the final rule on inclusive competition and market integrity which bans discmi sex, race, religion and more

including being a cooperative the livestock and poultry markets. it's going to prohibit and pouls engaging in very basic activities. reported to the government forming an association of producers or more. for example it protects livestock produces a poultry growers to communicate with each other and other packers and poultry dealers in search of n opportunities to compete or engage in price discovery. also stops deception including false or misleading statements and material omissions and contracting contracts operations and contract termination.ide ine proposed rules one tackles unfair and deceptive practices the seconeatanding essentials hm the competition along the sherman clayton act should not be applied to stockyard cases. we are very close to publishing a final rule that aligns the

u.s. a label with consumer understanding of what the claimant means working on a label standards and verification guidance for claims such as animal raised practices so consumers can trust those labels and lastly we are wrapping up more than $1 billion of investments you challenged us to make in meat and poultry spring and summer focused on small independently owned local facilities. ess. all of this, mr. president, is going to provide additional competition more choice and lower cost for consumers. that's just a few of the many ways we are promoting competition at usda from

domestic and fertilizer capacity that you ordered. usda is using expertise and balance sheet to bring down prices for consumers, promote fairness for farmers and workers with the department of justice, ensuring up the resiliency in food and agriculture supply chain all of which you directed and challenged us to do. >> can i ask a quest getting from farmers and particularly livestock producers? >> mr. president, they welcome these chang for far too long they felt that they were at the mercy of a relatively small number of integrators and processors. to the extent they now have more options to be able to process their -- their local and independently own processing facilities some of which are farmer owned to the extent they know that they have a balanced playing field that they doing business with and they understand they have certain rights, that they can in fact,

seek a better deal, all of that, i think, iss been very much desired in the marketplace across all farm groups and across also associations. so this is very popular with farmers. >> almost four years ago in iowa and good to see -- what's the next most important step? i'm not going anybody these questions? >> basically providing opportunity for small and mid-size farms to stay in business. previous administrations, you have to get big or get out, that's helped the lfarming oper. your administration for the first time is creating an option so that people can stay in business and pass their farms onto their i can't emphasize how important this is. we lost 4,054 farms since 1981

all the farmers dakota, wiscons, illinois, iowa, nebraska, colorado, missouri and oklahoma. gone. your administration is trying to put a stop to that. >> thank you. thank you. >> yeah, i think that's a gre example of the many ways by giving small farmers small ranchers a fair shot we are also helping to bring prices down for american consumers on things like poultry and meat. one of the unique assets to have competition council is that we've really seen every cabinet agency increasing competition■rs undertaken a number of really important initiatives at the department of defense so mr. secretary, perhaps you'd like to talk about those next. >> thanks, mr. president, as you

know well, competition is vital to our defse industrial base and to keep america secure we need to make our defense industrial base even stronger. in january the released our first ever national defense industrial strategy. that's our blueprint foresiliene industrial base that's postured to deliver capabilities to our war fighters at speed and scale. and at means that expediting or expanding our relationships with small and nontraditional companies and industries to versify our supplier base and lowering barriers to enter in the defense marketplace and so over the next six months, mr. president, we will keep pushing to implement that strategy and foster a more resilient modern and competitive defense industrial base. now, putin's ongoing assault on ukraine has underscored how

important this is. our security assistance has kept ukrainians in the fight and saved lives and also strengthened our economynd expad facilities and created job for american workers and the weapons that we've sent to ukraine to america by american workers nationwide from texas to ohio to arizona. now u fight also shows that we urgently need to expand our own production capabilities and coordinate even more closely with partners and allies and we need congress to pass the national securit investing in or industrial base and i appreciate everyone here and your support to make the president's executive order a reality. these initiatives will promote

competition ant revitalize our defense industrial base to keep america safe in the 21st century. thanks. >> do you have a message to voters? >> thank you all. c-span's campaign coverage providing a one-stop shop to discover what the candidates across the country are voters along with firsthand accounts from political reporter, updated poll numbers,

fundraising data and campaign ads. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail friday night at 7:00 eastern. download at podcast on c-span now our free mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your infiltered view of politics. live and on demand, keep up with the day's biggest events with live floor proceedings from u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaign and the world of politics all at your fingertips.

on wednesday feral reserve chair jarome powell testifies on the federal reserve's monetary policy, see the house financial services committeeive at 10:00 , c-span now our free mobile video app. the deputy administrator joined others to talk about the agency's mission and project management host bid the exchange monitor. this is about an hour.