Baby formula shortage: how the government may be partially responsible

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Baby formula crisis: 'Government policy put Abbot in charge of 40% of the market'

Wall Street Journal opinion columnist and commentator Jason Riley joins an All-Star Panel to discuss the baby formula shortage on 'Special Report.'

The participants in the "Special Report" All-Star panel took a closer look Thursday at the roots of the national baby formula shortage and what the Biden administration could do to combat the growing crisis.

JASON RILEY: There are still things they can do but are reluctant to do. One is to address the tariff issue. First of all, government policy is what put Abbott in control of 40% of the market for baby formula. These were these monopolistic arrangements they had with states that allowed them to be the sole provider of formula for recipients of low-income recipients of baby formula. That was a government policy put in place that could have been addressed.

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But here we are. And what could we do? One thing we could do is ramp up production abroad and import from places you don't have to import from China and places like that or India. You can import from Canada, which has very good safety standards. Why aren't we doing that? Because there are tariffs in place, Bret, there--and granted they were put in place by the previous administration. But Biden couldn't lift those tariffs and that would address the problem. And he's unwilling, or at least right now, to do that. But that would be the most direct way to get at the issue.

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