President Trump calls for cheaper cattle and more land to reduce beef costs
The Trump administration has announced efforts to rebuild the nation’s decimated cattle herds while urging ranchers to lower prices.
As Republicans and President Donald Trump continue to battle over beef prices, the president recently decided to quadruple the amount of beef parts imported from Argentina in an effort to lower prices.
The president said this week that U.S. ranchers are benefiting from tariffs he has imposed on imported goods, but prices need to come down to encourage Americans to buy their products, according to Reuters.
Mr. Trump’s proposal did not sit well with U.S. ranchers.
“If President Trump is truly an ally of America’s cattle producers, we call on him to abandon his attempts to manipulate the market,” Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattle Beef Association, said in a statement Wednesday.
Woodall pointed out that over the past five years, Argentina has shipped more than $800 million worth of beef to the United States, but has only purchased $7 million worth of American beef. He also said the country has a long history of foot-and-mouth disease and that the Department of Agriculture has not yet completed the steps necessary for Argentina to ensure the safety of products shipped to the United States.
Failure to complete the necessary measures risks further endangering the country’s cattle herds, he said.
According to Reuters, the tariff quota for Argentine beef will be raised to 80,000 tonnes, allowing Argentina to ship more cuts to the US at lower tariff rates. Beef prices have been steadily rising this year due to consumer demand and supply constraints.
Here’s everything you need to know about the ongoing beef situation in the United States.
Why has the price of beef increased?
According to USDA’s September Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook Report, beef production forecasts are revised slightly downward in 2025, but will increase slightly in 2026.
Cattle prices hit record highs in August and September, the agency said, prompting price forecasts to be raised to the second half of 2025 and carried forward into 2026. August slaughter steer prices set a new monthly average record at $243.14 per hundredweight. That’s $6 more than July and nearly $54 more than last August. Weekly and wholesale cattle prices softened from daily highs recorded in late August but remained at historic highs.
From late July into August, weekly cattle slaughter experienced a seasonal decline to its lowest level since 2015. Cattle slaughter fell by 10% in August, the largest year-on-year decline for a month in 2025, according to an agency report.
According to the Labor Department, beef and veal prices rose 14.7% in September compared to the same period last year.
Tracking cattle prices helps economists understand how much ranchers are paid for the animals they raise. Economists track slaughter numbers to track middlemen in the meat market. Most cattle are sold to feed cattle that have been trimmed to weight before going to slaughterhouses or meat packers. These companies package products that are sent to wholesalers and end up in grocery stores and restaurants.
David P. Anderson, an agricultural economist and professor at Texas A&M University, told USA TODAY that today’s cattle prices are the result of a number of events that have occurred in recent years. In 2014, beef prices in the country reached record highs, a signal to ranchers to produce more.
Then the supply of cattle and beef increased in the United States, causing prices to fall. But since then, ranchers have been hit by several severe droughts in key producing areas, forcing them to reduce their herds, leading to a decline in beef production and higher prices. Meanwhile, consumer demand for beef is increasing as high-quality beef becomes more popular, Anderson said.
Ranchers have little control over the price consumers pay for beef, which is largely determined by meatpackers. Approximately 80% of all beef products in the United States come from four meat packers: Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef. International companies buy from domestic and international ranchers.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Tyson Foods agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the company of colluding with rivals to raise pork prices by restricting pork supply in the $20 billion U.S. market. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege that the alleged conspiracy to increase profits and increase retail prices for the defendants continued from 2009 to 2018.
In February, Brazilian company JBS agreed to pay $83.5 million to resolve antitrust claims that it conspired with other meat processing companies to suppress supplies to the U.S. beef market and inflate prices, according to Reuters.
In federal courts in Minnesota and Chicago, plaintiffs are suing meat packers with similar claims related to the supply of beef, chicken and turkey.
What is President Trump saying about beef prices?
According to Reuters, President Trump said in the Oval Office on October 22, “Prices in our country are way down. The only thing that’s really going up is beef.” “We’re going to do something very quickly and easily to reduce beef, and ranchers understand that.”
“My beloved ranchers don’t understand that the only reason they’re doing so well for the first time in decades is because I’m imposing tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% tariff on Brazil,” Trump added in a post on Truth Social.
“Prices also need to come down, because the consumer is a huge factor in my thinking.”
This week, the USDA announced its “Plan to Strengthen the U.S. Beef Industry: Strengthen Ranches, Rebuild Capacity, and Reduce Costs for Consumers.”
The plan aims to reduce long-term costs, increase marketing options and ensure consumers have “clear and truthful information about U.S. beef.”
Republican lawmakers have expressed concerns about the president’s plan. On Tuesday, eight Republican senators sent a letter to the president asking for additional information on the beef import plan.
“[We]call on the administration to ensure that any future decisions are made with full transparency, sound science, and a firm commitment to the U.S. cattle industry,” the letter, led by Rep. Julie Fedorchak (R-North Dakota), said.
Argentinian beef
As for Argentine beef, Anderson said he does not expect the president’s new policies to have a significant impact on beef prices. The United States imports 2.1% of its beef imports from Argentina.
“Most of what we import from them is usually very lean beef, the trimmings that make ground beef,” Anderson said. “A lot of that will probably go to restaurant food service burgers. It’s going to be very hard to see much of a price effect.”
Beef exports totaled 211 million pounds in July, down 19% from a year ago, according to the USDA report. Monthly exports to the top six markets increased by 15% year-on-year, excluding South Korea.
Exports to China, Mexico, and Taiwan were also low. Compared to July 2024, China’s exports decreased by 94%, exports to Taiwan decreased by nearly 26%, and exports to Mexico decreased by 17%.
Meanwhile, beef imports in June totaled 457 million pounds, an increase of approximately 13% from the same month last year. The countries from which the country imports beef, in descending order, are Brazil, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico.
The USDA reported that additional tariffs on beef imports from Brazil that took effect in August are expected to continue to reduce the competitiveness of beef imports in the U.S. market.
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Please contact mdelrey@usatoday.com..
