Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM.

The U.S. Department of Justice has challenged U.S. Sugar Corp.'s proposed acquisition of rival Imperial Sugar Co. in a federal District of Delaware antitrust suit.

If the acquisition goes forward, the DOJ claims, refined sugar and the products it's used in could soar in price with nearly all the sales in the Southeast controlled by two producers.

"Robust antitrust enforcement is an essential pillar of the Justice Department's commitment to ensuring economic opportunity and fairness for all," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "We will not hesitate to challenge anticompetitive mergers that would harm American consumers and businesses alike."

With supply chain issues already prevalent across the board, the federal government has asserted, it's an especially critical time to preserve competition between companies with the antitrust litigation.