CFTC Halts Louis Dreyfus Probe as Trump Rolls Back Enforcement in $3.25 Million Cotton Case
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 28
CFTC Halts Louis Dreyfus Probe as Trump Rolls Back Enforcement in $3.25 Million Cotton Case
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 28
Summary
CFTC lawyers were nearing a recommendation for civil charges against Louis Dreyfus when the agency’s new Trump-appointed acting chairwoman shut down the cotton-market investigation, citing concerns that the evidence was insufficient.
The case grew from a 2021 whistle-blower complaint alleging Louis Dreyfus, like Olam Group, misled markets about cotton exports to China, a practice farmers long suspected was distorting prices.
Olam already paid a $3.25 million fine in the Biden administration’s final months after the CFTC found it had misled the market about those exports.
The Louis Dreyfus decision sits inside a broader pullback in CFTC enforcement under Trump, raising concern among farmers about oversight of the nation’s multi-trillion-dollar commodities markets.