President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the United States without triggering higher tariffs and said the imports would be sold at 25% below current market rates, the White House said. Trump made the claim on social media as he faces pressure to lower costs ahead of the midterm elections in November.
A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan is not finalized, said the deal permits up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to enter the country over 90 days without activating an “out of quota” tariff. The official said the beef involved is lean trimmings used for ground beef production and that foreign exporters have agreed to the discount, which the official said would be passed on to consumers. The official said Trump plans to sign an executive order formalizing the directive within two weeks.
The announcement drew swift criticism from conservative, rural-state Republicans who warned it could hurt American ranchers. Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a reliable ally of the president, said in a social media post that he had advised Trump against the move for a year because “American ranchers have been struggling against the packer monopoly for decades, and this will further harm them — most of whom are MAGA Republicans.” Sheehy added that the plan would “make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people.”
Ranching groups and industry representatives also raised concerns. Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, said imports have been “a major contributor to the decline in the U.S. cattle inventory” and that using more imports “will exacerbate that decline, and will prevent herd expansion,” according to the organization. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and other farm groups voiced reservations when the administration previously sought to buy more beef from Argentina, the White House official said.
The administration has struggled to curb high beef prices amid drought, tight cattle supplies and persistent consumer demand. Trump has also imposed a 50% tariff on beef from Brazil and asked the Justice Department last year to investigate foreign-owned meat packers, a move he tied to higher U.S. prices. A trade group representing meat packers pushed back at the time, saying the packers were not to blame for rising prices.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
