WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the U.S. without triggering higher tariffs, as he remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November's midterms.
The president said on social media that he had committed to ensuring the imported beef would be sold at 25% below current market rates, making it cheaper for American consumers.
A White House official said the deal is with foreign beef exporters who have agreed to the discount on beef, which the official said would be passed on to consumers.
The directive drew quick backlash from conservative rural-state Republicans who raised alarms about the plan's impact on ranchers.
“I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action 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,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said in a social media post just hours after the president's announcement Friday morning.
Sheehy, a reliable ally of the president, said Trump's “heart is in the right place” but the plan would nonetheless “make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people. And most importantly, this will harm our ranching families who feed the nation.”
The deal, Trump said, allows up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the U.S. for the next 90 days without activating an “out of quota” tariff, which is a tax that goes into effect once a certain quantity of that product enters the country.
The White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan that has yet to be finalized, said the beef in question is lean beef trimmings that are used for ground beef production. Trump plans to sign an executive order formalizing the directive within two weeks, the official said.
The announced plan is likely to also spur opposition from American ranchers and farm groups, which have been some of the president's most reliable political supporters but have balked at Trump's past efforts to import more foreign beef.
When the administration made a push last year to buy more beef from Argentina, key ranching and farming groups such as The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association raised concerns about the impact on American ranchers and feedlot operators.
The Trump administration has struggled to combat the cost of beef, which has remained high due to several factors including drought, tight cattle supply and Americans' consistent demand for the product. The U.S. president has also imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter.
Last year, Trump asked his Justice Department to launch an investigation into foreign-owned meat packers, accusing those companies of ramping up beef prices in the U.S. He offered no evidence for his claims at the time, and a trade group representing meat packers said they weren't to blame for high prices.
The president also said Friday that his plan would help grow the U.S. cattle supply, which is the smallest in decades. But the idea of increased beef imports from abroad can create uncertainty for ranchers, which in turn could make them less likely to make investments to grow the herd.
“Imports have been a major contributor to the decline in the U.S. cattle inventory,” said Bill Bullard, the CEO of the R-CALF USA, which represents independent cattle producers. “Using more imports today will exacerbate that decline, and will prevent herd expansion.”
