For some U.S. cattle ranchers, President Donald Trump’s plan to import Argentinian beef is tougher to swallow than a $2 steak.
The administration says the plan is designed to help lower grocery prices for American consumers amid record-high beef inflation. But cattle ranchers — including many in GOP strongholds — argue it could do more harm than good to an industry already struggling with drought, high feed costs and the smallest domestic herds in 74 years. (1)
Those factors — combined with Trump’s tariffs on Brazilian beef, a major U.S. supplier — have put the squeeze on cattle ranchers and pushed the price of beef up to more than $6 a pound, an all-time high. (2)
That, plus Trump’s $40 billion bailout to Argentina — which also struck a deal to sell soybeans to China while U.S. soybean farmers are shut out because of the president’s tariff war — has incensed ranchers and farming organizations across the country. (3)
Christian Lovell of the non-partisan organization Farm Action called the move “a betrayal of the American rancher,” adding “Washington should be focused on fixing our broken cattle market, not rewarding foreign competitors.” (4)
Meanwhile, “blindsided” Republican lawmakers endured “intense blowback from angry ranchers and beef trade groups.” (5) Marjorie Taylor Greene, a GOP rep from Georgia — where cattle farming is a billion dollar industry — asked Trump to “stop helping foreign countries and put Americans first.” (6) That includes “farming-dependent counties,” which saw almost 78% of their voters cast a ballot for Trump in the 2024 election. (7)
On Thursday, though, Trump announced that he plans to “quadruple” imports of beef from Argentina to 80,000 metric tons. (8)
So, could Trump’s beefed up plan really hurt farming communities, and what are experts suggesting instead to lower beef prices?
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Why some say Trump’s plan is all sizzle and no steak
Politicians, ranchers, industry experts and even Argentina’s own former undersecretary of Agricultural Markets agree that importing Argentinian beef is unlikely to lower U.S. grocery prices. That’s because Argentina consumes more beef than any other country per capita, meaning they only have so much left over to export. (9)
“Even if the deal between the two countries allowed for unlimited trade, I don’t think Argentina could produce enough to put a dent into beef prices,” said Caleb Hurst, an S&P Global Commodity Insights analyst. (10)
Many, however, worry the plan will do further harm to an already struggling U.S. beef industry.
To start, the AP noted that cattle prices dropped just from Trump’s announcement about Argentinian beef imports, while agricultural economist Glynn Tonsor of Kansas State University expressed his concern to the outlet that importing Argentinian beef would create uncertainty that discourages further investment in American cattle. (12)
Dr. Hunter Burnett, a cattle rancher who also teaches animal science at Arkansas State University, added that an influx of Argentinian beef would not lower grocery prices but would likely lead to an overall increase in beef production that could take a cut out of ranchers’ profits. (13)
Farm and ranching organizations are weighing in as well. The United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) president Justin Tupper claimed that increasing imports “ultimately benefits foreign suppliers and multinational packers” while hurting U.S. ranchers and consumers, adding that “this approach weakens our industry’s foundation and undermines rural America.” (14)
Meanwhile, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) warned “farmers are facing an economic storm,” adding that “just the mention of beef imports created more instability and uncertainty for America’s farmers. (15) Flooding markets with foreign-grown beef could affect our nation’s ability to be food independent in the long-term.” And the National Cattleman’s Beef Association (NCBA) shared their concern about Argentina’s history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), saying that it “could decimate our domestic livestock production.” (16)
Trump pushed back against the criticism, taking to social media to share his own belief that cattle ranchers “don’t understand” how his tariffs are helping them, and that “they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking.” It’s worth noting, however, that cattle ranchers don’t set the prices for their beef. (17)
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What experts say can help farmers more than importing foreign beef
Cattle ranchers say that, rather than bailing out Argentina and then importing their beef, there are better ways the Trump administration can help out.
The USCA, for example, released a statement calling on Trump and his team to “abandon this effort to manipulate markets” and instead focus on addressing “regulatory burdens,” investing in protection for cattle from “foreign animal diseases” such as FMD, and “completing the promised New World Screwworm facility in Texas” that would help combat the flesh-eating parasite that can devastate cattle herds. (18)
The National Farmers Union (NFU) called for “doubling down on our efforts to support family farmers and ranchers here at home” by “rebuilding herds to meet domestic demand, restoring competition in meatpacking, enacting mandatory country-of-origin labeling … and creating a fair marketplace that works for both farmers and consumers.” (19)
Farm Action added to that, saying the U.S. needs to “restore competitive markets by enforcing antitrust laws” while echoing the call to rebuild herds “to achieve national self-reliance in beef production.”
In an attempted olive branch, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins did claim that, amidst all of this blowback, the administration has a plan to help ranchers that includes, among the action points, deregulatory reforms and boosting processing capacity.
For now, ranchers are watching closely to see if policy changes will arrive soon — or whether the industry will be left out to pasture.
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Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Successful Farming (1), (21); AP (2), (12); MSNBC (3); Farm Action (4), (20); Politico (5); Georgia Cattlemen’s Association (6); Investigate Midwest (7); Reuters (8); Newsweek (9); World Population Review (10); S&P Global (11); K8 News (13); US Cattlemen’s Association (14); AFBF (15); NCBA (16); @realDonaldTrump (17); @BeefUSA (18); NFU (19)
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