Why are US ranchers so upset about Trump plan to lower beef prices?
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that dramatically expands U.S. beef imports from Argentina — a move he says aims to relieve historically high domestic beef prices, but that has drawn sharp criticism from cattle producers and some lawmakers.
The proclamation, titled “Ensuring Affordable Beef for the American Consumer,” temporarily increases the tariff-rate quota for lean beef trimmings by 80,000 metric tons — allowing Argentina to ship the additional supply tariff-free in four quarterly tranches of 20,000 metric tons through the end of the year. Lean trimmings are typically blended with higher-fat domestic cuts to make ground beef.
Under a broader trade agreement with Buenos Aires signed Thursday, Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said the expansion “grant[s] an unprecedented expansion of preferential access for Argentine beef” to the U.S. market by about 100,000 tons, representing an estimated $800 million increase in Argentine exports.
Administration officials said the increased imports are a temporary response to tight U.S. supplies and soaring prices: ground beef averaged about $6.69 per pound in December 2025, the highest level on record since the government began tracking retail prices in the 1980s, according to Federal Reserve and Labor Department data. Trump and aides contend that adding supply will help tamp down costs for consumers.
But U.S. ranchers and industry groups were quick to push back. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association told CBS News the expansion is a “misguided effort” that will harm family farms and “do little to impact the price consumers are paying at the grocery store,” saying domestic production and market forces — not imports — are the true drivers of retail beef costs.
Back in October, NCBA CEO Colin Woodall reiterated earlier concerns that the plan could inject uncertainty into the cattle market and undercut U.S. producers’ recent gains, given that beef imports from Argentina still represent only a small proportion of total U.S. beef consumption.
“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its members cannot stand behind the President while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef in an attempt to influence prices,” said Woodall. “It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let the cattle markets work.”
Last fall, GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, expressing concerns that expanding imports of Argentine beef will “undermine American cattle producers, weaken our position in ongoing trade negotiations, and reintroduce avoidable animal-health risks,” the letter, which was obtained by Border Report, said.
The White House said the Agriculture Department and U.S. Trade Representative will continue monitoring lean beef supplies and related imports and advise on any further actions needed to ensure adequate domestic availability.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
