Washington, D.C. – The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement after the Department of Justice yesterday filed a notice of appeal and emergency motion for an injunction in the merger case against U.S. Sugar and Imperial Sugar. The Justice Department’s filings come just one business day after Judge Maryellen Noreika, in the U.S. District Court for Delaware, entered judgment in favor of the sugar companies, allowing their merger to go forward.

“In swiftly appealing Judge Noreika’s decision, the Justice Department is fighting for the consumers, wholesalers, and farmers that will suffer if the U.S. Sugar-Imperial Sugar merger proceeds,” said Katherine Van Dyck, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “U.S. Sugar and Imperial Sugar are multibillion-dollar corporations that control almost 75% of sugar sales in the Southeast United States. Their merger flies in the face of the Clayton Act, ridding the industry of any real competition and posing serious threats to food prices and supply chain resiliency. The Justice Department is right on the law, and their quick call for an injunction, which if successful would temporarily halt the merger, is critical to protecting competition while the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit hears their appeal.”

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.