Washington (United States) (AFP) – President Donald Trump announced Friday that the United States would temporarily allow a greater volume of foreign beef imports, in his latest bid to lower costs for American consumers as midterm elections approach. The US cattle herd has shrunk to its lowest level since the 1950s — in part due to drought and international competition — with the diminishing herd size pushing cattle prices higher.
“As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The US president did not say which countries would be exporting the beef, but added that there was a commitment to sell the beef at 25 percent below market prices.
Steeper beef prices have become a symbol of high living costs in the world’s biggest economy, pressing the Trump administration to take steps to bring costs down. But US cattle and rancher groups have been resistant to importing more beef. On Friday, Trump said he had “concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” while providing limited details. “This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” the US president wrote.
Last fall, Trump demanded that ranchers slash their prices, and he later moved to expand imports of beef trimmings from Argentina to cool ground beef prices. His latest effort comes as American households struggle with stubborn inflation, fueled by an energy crisis linked to war in Iran. After US-Israel strikes targeting Iran from late February, Tehran retaliated by virtually blocking off access to the Strait of Hormuz, a key route of energy transit. This has pushed up fuel and transportation costs, squeezing consumers.
Despite higher beef prices, US consumer demand for the meat remains robust. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that total beef consumption this year will hit 29.4 billion pounds, an uptick from 2025. The American Farm Bureau Federation warned in May, however, that Americans are consuming more beef than US farmers and ranchers can supply. It added that ranchers need to rebuild the US cattle herd — or demand would have to cool — in order for beef prices to fall.
Yet “cattle producers still face substantial uncertainty that clouds herd rebuilding decisions,” Bernt Nelson, an economist at the federation wrote. These include threats to animal health, including the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite.
© 2024 AFP
