Richardcyoung.com

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin & Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity & Wellington Since 1971
  • Hillsdale College
  • Babson College
  • Contact Us

Baby Formula Gone Missing?

May 13, 2022 By Debbie Young

By sweet marshmallow @ Shutterstock.com

There is a shortage of baby formula caused allegedly by a mix of supply chain issues and a recall. Baby formula shelves are empty causing some stores to restrict sales of product as panicked parents and caregivers search for formula to feed their babies, reports Joseph Pisani in the WSJ.

In what the WSJ’s James Freeman calls “an important case,” Mr. Freeman wonders if President Joe Biden is serious about wanting to fight scarcity and reduce consumer prices.

Expecting the career Washington politician to suddenly consider economy-wide regulatory relief and broad tariff reductions to counter inflation may not be realistic. But why can’t the president just take a baby step toward open markets and plentiful supplies by removing trade barriers? His youngest constituents need help.

Covid-19 related supply chain issues have made baby formula harder to find. Exacerbating the shortage, a major formula manufacturer (Abbott Laboratories) voluntarily recalled some products and closed a plant in in Sturgis, Michigan, where the products were made.

At Cato Institute, Gabriella Beaumont‐Smith notes that freer trade could help alleviate the current shortage and prevent future ones:

Stores like Walgreens, CVS Health, and Target are limiting the number of formula products per purchase because of low inventory—just last month, national out-of-stock levels reached 40 percent!

We’re from the Government, and We’re Here to Help

One reason retailers are struggling to recover stock levels is the multifarious trade restrictions that limit infant formula imports.

The United States subjects infant formula to tariffs up to 17.5 percent and tariff‐​rate quotas (TRQs); for TRQs some level imported are subject to a tariff with the excess subject to a tariff and additional duties.

A few trading partners receive “special” duty rates where some infant formula imports are duty-free or receive lower tariffs and TRQs. Mexico is one of the few U.S. trading partners that has some duty-​free access for infant formula, and uncoincidentally, is the top trading partner for U.S. formula imports…

What Would We Do Without the FDA?

Making matters even worse, infant formula is subject to onerous U.S. regulatory (“non-tariff”) barriers. For example, the FDA requires specific ingredients, labeling requirements, and mandates retailers wait at least 90 days before marketing a new infant formula. Therefore, if U.S. retailers wanted to source more formula from established trading partners like Mexico or Canada, the needs of parents cannot be quickly met because of these wait times. Businesses also have little incentive to go through the onerous regulatory process to sell to American retailers, given the aforementioned tariffs and the relatively short duration of the current crisis.

The Biden White House defended the plant’s closure. Still to come, however, are any details on when the plant might reopen or what the administration plans are to help solve the problem.

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for the Richardcyoung.com free weekly email.

Related Posts

  • Bribery and Extortion Gone Missing?
  • The Parody of Impeachment: Urgency Gone Missing?
  • The Baby Boom
  • Patriots Draft Baby Wilfork
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Debbie Young
Debbie Young
Debbie, our chief political writer of Richardcyoung.com, is also our chief domestic affairs writer, a contributing writer on Eastern Europe and Paris and Burgundy, France. She has been associate editor of Dick Young’s investment strategy reports for over five decades. Debbie lives in Key West, Florida, and Newport, Rhode Island, and travels extensively in Paris and Burgundy, France, cooking on her AGA Cooker, driving through Vermont and Maine, and practicing yoga. Debbie has completed the 200-hour Krama Yoga teacher training program taught by Master Instructor Ruslan Kleytman. Debbie is a strong supporting member of the NRA.
Debbie Young
Latest posts by Debbie Young (see all)
  • A Great Victory for Liberty - June 19, 2025
  • The Absurdity of LA Mayor Karen Bass - June 18, 2025
  • The Night of the Living Dead - June 17, 2025

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • Tom Brady Is Proof You Shouldn’t Retire if You Still Love Your Work
  • BLOOD THINNERS: Is a Big Advance Imminent?
  • The Federal Reserve is “Almost Everything” that Threatens America
  • Uniparty Republicans “Wriggling Like Worms on Hooks”
  • Interest Rates Your Dad Would Be Proud Of
  • Meet Me at Freddy’s June 2022
  • Escape From the City: You’re Going to Like What You See
  • You Need to Seek Some Shelter for When Things Get Ugly
  • Who Owns Your Assets?
  • You Want the Limo, Not the Public Bus

Our Most Popular Posts

  • The Night of the Living Dead
  • TRUMP: "Everyone Should Immediately Evacuate Tehran!"
  • Are You Familiar with the EF and Arithmetic?
  • A Classic Issue from Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
  • People Are on Edge
  • A Nationwide Day of Defiance
  • Best Bang for Your Buck: Top 5 AR-15s of 2025
  • Epic Man Cave with Car Elevator in Utah
  • Israelis Speculate on American Involvement in War with Iran
  • GBU-57/B: Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP)

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • A Great Victory for Liberty
  • Letchworth: Are You Living Your Best Retirement Life?
  • Job Openings Rise in Four States, National Rate Steady
  • Ethane Shipments Stall as U.S.-China Trade Tensions Rise
  • Historic Tax Cuts Across All States
  • Are You Familiar with the EF and Arithmetic?
  • Canadian Shipbuilder Targets U.S. Arctic Contracts
  • Israel-Iran Conflict Triggers Freight Rate Surge and Maritime Caution
  • US Export Prices Drop Sharply in May
  • Retro Meets Futurism: Dacora’s Ultra-Luxury EV Channels 1930s Elegance

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • June Rage Gauge: Best Déjeuners in Paris
  • Letchworth: Are You Living Your Best Retirement Life?
  • Will SALT Kill the “One Big Beautiful Bill?”
  • You’ve Read the Last Issue of Intelligence Report: Back to Investor’s Yield
  • The Sound of Silence?
  • Are You Familiar with the EF and Arithmetic?
  • “Happy I Found Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report”
  • A Classic Issue from Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report
  • The Rich Man “Doesn’t Need the Markets”
  • Is Bitcoin Really Digital Gold?

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

My Key West Garden Office

Your Retirement Life: Traveling the Efficient Frontier

Live a Long Life

Your Survival Guy’s Mt. Rushmore of Investing Legends

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Copyright © 2025 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives