The chief executive of Target rebukes Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign pledge to end “price gouging” by arguing that businesses in the ultra-competitive retail industry simply don’t have the wiggle room to raise prices. 

“We’re in a penny business,” Brian Cornell said on CNBC on Wednesday when asked if Target or industry competitors ever benefit from so-called “price gouging.” 

He added that the “competitive” nature of the retail industry makes it easy for customers to seek out the lowest prices, which in turn, makes it difficult for businesses to keep up demand if they raise those prices. “Is there a more competitive space than retail?” he asked his interviewer on the financial news network. 

And with the emergence of online stores, he added, “people can pull up their phone and check the price of milk at Target and other retailers.” 

His comments come in response to Ms. Harris’s claim that nefarious corporate price manipulation has fueled food-price inflation. While speaking at the Democratic National Convention this week, Ms. Harris even called for a federal ban on “price gouging.” 

Other leaders in the food and retail industries have similarly clapped back against her suggestion to impose price controls.  

“We understand why there is this sticker shock and why it’s upsetting. But to automatically just say there’s got to be something nefarious, I think to us that is oversimplified,” said the vice president of food retailer and supplier trade group, FMI. 

While the rise in food prices has imposed a significant burden on American consumers — surging more than 20 percent since President Biden took office — many economists dispute the efficacy of imposing price regulations. 

A former Obama administration economist, Jason Furman, has argued that anti-price gouging laws could end up hurting consumers. “This is not sensible policy, and I think the biggest hope is that it ends up being a lot of rhetoric and no reality,” he told the New York Times. “There’s no upside here, and there is some downside.”