Corn and Garlic: Two Peas in a Pod

    Becker’s model of competition among pressure groups says that groups spend resources to maximize the benefit of those in their group, and the policy outcome depends on how effective each group's spending is. Like corn farmers in the U.S. , garlic is a clear example of pressure groups. The U.S. has had an antidumping order on Chinese garlic since 1994, and in 2018 a rancher named Ken Christopher, one of the last three commercial garlic producers in the country, traveled to Washington to ask that garlic be included in new tariffs. His reasoning was that the tariffs were happening anyway, so why not garlic. His lobbying was successful, and after a 10% tariff began in September 2018, his domestic sales rose 15% in the last quarter of the year, and the tariff went up to 25% in May 2019.

    As Becker predicted, pressure groups began to compete against each other and Garlic didn’t go unchallenged. McCormick, a huge seasoning company, argued against it before the International Trade Commission. McCormick pushed back and said its recipes depend on Chinese garlic, which it does not consider substitutable for the American kind. A small group of growers with a large stake faces a firm that bears the cost, and both spend on lobbying. Consumers, who saw a box of garlic go from $20 to $40, are left bearing unnecessary burden. McCormick and Chrispother are spending resources on things other than production causing dead weight loss.