I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4720 
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to provide for stricter 
prohibitions on price gouging of certain materials, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 23, 2025 
Mr. RILEY of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Defense Production Act of 1950 to provide 
for stricter prohibitions on price gouging of certain mate-
rials, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cracking Down on 
Price Gouging Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PRICE GOUGING OF CERTAIN MA-
TERIALS. 
The Defense Production Act of 1950 (50 U.S.C. 
4512) is amended— 
(1) in section 102— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘In’’ and inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION
ON
HOARDING
AND
PRICE 
GOUGING OF CERTAIN MATERIALS OR GOODS.—In’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and price gouging’’ after 
‘‘prevent hoarding’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘accumulate (1)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(1) accumulate’’; 
(D) by striking ‘‘for the purpose of resale 
at prices in excess of prevailing market prices’’ 
and inserting ‘‘sell or offer to sell at prices that 
grossly exceed prevailing market prices for the 
same or similar materials or critical goods in 
the trade area or at an unfairly excessive 
price’’; 
(E) by striking ‘‘accumulation.’’ and in-
serting ‘‘accumulation, or any critical good 
under an acute shortage.’’; 
(F) by inserting ‘‘scarce’’ after ‘‘designa-
tion of’’; and 
(G) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(b) UNFAIRLY EXCESSIVE PRICE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A price is an unfairly ex-
cessive price if there is a gross disparity in the price 
of a material or critical good at the time of the 
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transaction and the price of the material or critical 
good immediately prior to— 
‘‘(A) the effective date of the President 
designating the material as a scarce material; 
or 
‘‘(B) the date on which an acute shortage 
of the critical good begins. 
‘‘(2) GROSS DISPARITY.— 
‘‘(A) PRESUMPTIVE.—A presumptive gross 
disparity includes a 10 percent increase of price 
relative to— 
‘‘(i) the effective date of the President 
designating the material as a scarce mate-
rial; or 
‘‘(ii) the date on which an acute 
shortage of the critical good begins. 
‘‘(B) OTHER
PRICE
INCREASE.—Nothing 
in this subsection shall preclude a price increase 
that is less than a 10 percent increase of the 
price of a material or critical good relative to 
the price on the effective date of the President 
designating such material as a scarce material, 
or the date on which an acute shortage begins, 
from constituting a gross disparity. 
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‘‘(3) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraphs 
(1) and (2), a price is not an unfairly excessive price 
if it is the result of— 
‘‘(A) a legitimate business need of the sell-
er; or 
‘‘(B) additional costs outside the control of 
the seller. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ACUTE
SHORTAGE.—The term ‘acute 
shortage’ means any negative supply impact that is 
caused by— 
‘‘(A) a disease; 
‘‘(B) a pathogen; 
‘‘(C) a natural disaster; 
‘‘(D) a military conflict; 
‘‘(E) terrorism; 
‘‘(F) supply-chain disruptions; 
‘‘(G) extreme industry consolidation; or 
‘‘(H) any other similar exigent constraint. 
‘‘(2) CRITICAL GOOD.—The term ‘critical good’ 
means— 
‘‘(A) any consumer food item, good, or 
service that is used, bought, or rendered pri-
marily for personal, family, or household pur-
poses; 
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