President Trump will enable up to 300,000 metric tons of floor beef to be imported into the United States with decrease tariffs over the subsequent 90 days, he mentioned in a social media post Friday morning, a bid to decrease the price of a staple meals for Americans pinched by larger costs.
The beef might be imported with “no out of quota tariff” and offered 25 p.c under the present market worth, which is $6.89 per pound, he mentioned.
The president supplied virtually no particulars about how his plan would work, however the information appeared to shock and anger ranchers. He didn’t say which international locations the meat would come from, the place it could be offered or how it could be discounted 25 p.c.
A White House official mentioned the president would signal an government order to take away the tariffs inside the subsequent two weeks. In alternate for the tariff reduction, the president had secured a cope with international beef exporters to present a 25 p.c low cost, he mentioned.
The official didn’t specify which international exporters he was referring to, or which nation the meat was from.
“This action, during a time of record high demand for beef, will help address the affordability of beef, after our nation’s cattle supply fell to its lowest level in 75 years under the Biden administration,” the Agriculture Department mentioned.
More than 80 p.c of the meat Americans eat is produced in the United States, which means that even a rise in beef imports is unlikely to radically improve the availability of beef and decrease costs.
Groups representing ranchers mentioned the plan was solely a short-term repair for customers, and would damage ranchers and discourage them from growing the availability of American cattle and lowering costs over the long term.
“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” mentioned Colin Woodall, the chief government of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
The plan was additionally blasted by some Republican lawmakers who symbolize giant cattle-raising areas.
“At a time when ranchers need certainty to increase domestic production, this sends the wrong signal,” Representative Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota, mentioned in an announcement.
Montana Senator Tim Sheehy wrote on social media that he had “advised President Trump against this course of action for a year.”
The authorities of Brazil, a serious supplier of U.S. beef imports, mentioned that its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had spoken on the telephone with Mr. Trump on Friday. The Brazilian president emphasised the necessity for additional tariff talks, the federal government mentioned.
The assertion didn’t point out beef, and the White House didn’t reply to a query about whether or not Brazil could be supplying the meat. But Brazil is among the few international locations that would export giant quantities of beef to the United States inside the subsequent 90 days, fulfilling the 300,000 metric ton objective.
Only six international locations exported greater than 100,000 metric tons to the United States final 12 months, and two of them, Canada and Mexico, already export their beef with out tariffs due to free commerce agreements. Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay are the opposite 4.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly imposed tariffs in an effort to defend U.S. markets, increase income for the U.S. authorities and goad international international locations into making concessions. But the levies have additionally pushed up U.S. shopper costs, according to economists, crashing headlong into Mr. Trump’s guarantees to assist alleviate the price of residing for Americans.
The White House has struggled to handle persistently excessive grocery costs, particularly excessive beef costs. Since Mr. Trump returned to workplace in January 2025, the value of floor beef has risen 24 p.c, in accordance to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The solely sturdy manner to decrease beef costs, ranchers and economists mentioned, is to improve the scale of the American cattle herd. U.S. cattle numbers are the smallest for the reason that Fifties, after years of drought and low margins resulted in cattle producers lowering the scale of their herds or leaving the enterprise. It takes years for ranchers to improve the scale of the nation’s herd, and there may be little proof they’ve taken steps to achieve this over the previous 18 months.
“Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short-term messaging,” Mr. Woodall mentioned.
This 12 months, the president signed an executive order to enable imports of an extra 80,000 metric tons of floor beef from Argentina with out tariffs. Last 12 months, the United States imported virtually 1.9 million metric tons of beef and beef merchandise, in accordance to Census Bureau commerce knowledge.
Another small improve in the meat provide could possibly be on the horizon. Live cattle imports from Mexico have been halted in May 2025 over fears of the unfold of the flesh-eating screwworm fly. But with the fly having reached the United States this summer, the Agriculture Department plans to slowly reopen the southern border to Mexican cattle beginning on Monday.