President Trump signed executive orders Friday to temporarily pause tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef, a move drawing swift backlash from cattle farmers and Republican lawmakers who say it will harm domestic producers.
The White House says the measure aims to lower grocery prices for American consumers. Trump said the plan involves suppliers agreeing to sell imported beef at 25 percent below current market prices, with that discount passed to shoppers over 90 days.
"We want to get the beef prices down, so we will get them down a little bit," Trump said. "That's what people want. That's what the voters want, and that's what I want."
Walter Schweitzer, president of the Montana Farmers Union and a black Angus cattle rancher, criticized the lack of transparency. "I know nothing more than anyone, because we haven't seen the plan. We haven't seen anything in writing," Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said 300,000 tons of additional beef represents only a 2 to 3 percent increase over total U.S. beef supply. Without mandatory country of origin labeling, he argued, consumers will see no price change. Instead, multinational packers will import beef from their facilities in Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere, mix it with domestic beef, slap a USDA-inspected label on it, and sell it at U.S. beef prices.
The move comes as ground beef costs have risen nearly 75 percent since 2021. The U.S. cattle herd is currently the smallest it has been in 75 years, according to industry data. Yet Schweitzer noted the U.S. supply chain already holds more beef than it did five years ago, with nearly 30 percent of total U.S. beef supply already imported. Consumer demand for beef remains high, he said, undercutting the case for a supply shortage.
Trump described the import plan as a "very limited fashion" effort, seeking to downplay its broader impact as criticism mounted from his traditional political base.
