Elizabeth Warren targets price gouging and Trump tariffs in new bill

With expectations that prices will rise throughout the economy over the summer as more tariffs stack up, a group of legislators on Capitol Hill, highlighted by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), introduced a bill to target price gouging by the market’s biggest companies.

The Price Gouging Prevention Act of 2025 — introduced on Thursday by Warren along with Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois), and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) — would make price gouging illegal and give the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general the power to litigate alleged abuses of market power.

The proposed legislation comes just days after the June consumer price index showed a resurgence of inflation and as the tariffs toll continues to grow.

Warren says that in the past, big corporations have taken advantage of market shocks, hiding behind factors like inflation and supply chain disruptions to raise prices excessively, but this time the culprit is President Trump’s global trade war.

“Donald Trump’s reckless tariff policies are giving companies cover to squeeze families and raise prices more than necessary. My bill is an opportunity for Congress to stand up for families by cracking down on price gouging and fighting back against corporate abuse,” Warren said in a statement.

The text of the bill, as seen by CNBC, lists “abrupt trade policies” and “exceptional market shock” as factors to be considered in analysis of price increases.

A version of the bill introduced last year, The Price Gouging Prevention Act of 2024, did not specify trade policies. That legislation, sponsored by Warren along with former Senator Bob Casey (D-Pa.) was introduced in February 2024, but failed to pass. Casey lost his Senate seat in the 2024 election to Republican David McCormick.

The price gouging bill would require companies with over $100 million in revenue to publicly report in Securities and Exchange Commission filings on any changes in pricing that exceed the average price in the past 120 days before the reporting period, and provide details on product costs and margins. Businesses with less than $100 million in revenue would be protected from price gouging litigation if they show legitimate cost increases.

The bill would allocate an additional $1 billion in funding to the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the price gouging law.

“The biggest corporations in our country jack up the cost of everyday household items, take in record profits, and give their executives huge bonuses – all on the backs of hard-working Wisconsin families,” said Senator Baldwin in a statement. “Donald Trump claimed he would lower prices – so far, he has done just the opposite and is even opening the door to more price gouging. … Our bill will finally crack down on corporate greed and help stop those big companies at the top of the food chain from sticking families with exorbitant costs,” she stated.

In second-quarter earnings calls, companies from Costco to Best Buy and