From a reader (and trade lawyer):
Hi Jonah,
You also shouldn’t forget that the peanut industry is one of the most politically connected and protected industries in the country (right up there with sugar, dairy, cotton, etc.). Maybe if the government hadn’t closed the US market to peanut imports, the increased international competition might’ve put PCA out of business years ago.
PCA is far more a case of political cronyism, protectionism and, as you mention, flat-out fraud than it is a failure of regulation.