Campaigning for office last year in front of a table loaded with eggs, milk and other staples, President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One.”
Obviously, things have not worked out that way. Egg prices have dropped dramatically after flocks were rebuilt from the bird flu, but many other foods have remained stubbornly high, including the price of ground beef, which is hovering over $6.30 a pound.
Few cow-calf producers—especially the ones who voted for him and were finally starting to recover from years of low market prices—expected the president to take actions that would create immediate price drops. But that’s what happened when the president recently announced that he would allow beef imports from Argentina to rise by four to five times current levels in an effort to reduce United States beef prices.
December live cattle on Monday fell to $227.175, hitting a three-month low after trading down the expanded trading limit earlier in the day.
“It’s like a slap in the face to us. To try to bring our prices down when we are finally making money and surviving,” said Steve Wheeler, auction manager at Mo-Kan Livestock auction, speaking to Channel 41.
Colorado Cattlemen’s Association President Curt Russell told KOAA that the long-term impact might be minimal, but the news comes at a time when a lot of cow-calf ranchers are selling. He saw the price of calves drop $50 to $100 per head after the imports were announced. “This is right in the middle of our marketing season. This is our payday.”
In a display of unity, every major beef industry group opposed the idea, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, which has often been aligned with the administration’s policies.
“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,” NCBA CEO Colin Woodall said in a statement Oct. 29. “It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let the cattle markets work.”
Trump’s explanation
Trump turned to Truth Social to explain his decision.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil. If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”
But even that social post generated pushbacks.
R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard said that while he supports the president’s tariffs on countries like Brazil, they have not been entirely responsible for high beef prices.
“Cattle prices were increasing long before the Brazil tariffs,” Bullard said.
One other possible geopolitical explanation has surfaced: Trump’s desire to help Argentina’s President Javier Milei win his election, which he did on Sunday. Some sources say President Trump has been fixated on helping his South American friend win and hopefully, pivot the country away from China.
Rollins weighs in
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has also been trying to explain the administration’s decision to boost beef supplies, while trying to find other opportunities to help cattlemen. In an interview on Fox News, Rollins addressed the back and forth between the president and U.S. ranchers, arguing “there is frustration on both sides.”
“I was with the president yesterday and he is very, very frustrated because everything he’s done to cut taxes, to bring down costs,” Rollins said.
The administration rolled out a plan to boost domestic cattle production, rebuild U.S. inventories, reduce regulatory burdens and promote U.S beef consumption. The plan was met with some support from the industry, but cattle groups continued to urge the administration to back down from its Argentina import plan.
“Rather than turning to risky imports, we urge the administration to support long-term solutions that preserve herd health, incentivize an expansion in domestic beef production and protect the livelihoods of American ranchers,” the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association said in a statement.
Rollins defended the Argentina import plan by pointing out that even if the country increased its low-tariff exports to 100,000 tons, it would only add a small fraction to overall U.S. beef imports.
“This is not a massive influx,” Rollins said. In 2024, the U.S. imported some 4.6 billion pounds of beef and veal. Argentina accounted for around 2% of those imports.
Feeder cattle imports from Mexico are currently at a standstill because of a New World screwworm outbreak in the country. Mexican feeder cattle imports remained in line with recent annual averages in 2024, the last full year of data, despite a five-week border closure at the end of the year. They were, however, down around 60% year-over-year from January to May of 2025.
However, that could change and provide further downward pressure on cattle markets. Mexico’s Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue planned to be in Washington this week, meeting with Rollins to discuss reopening the border to Mexican cattle.
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-NE, said that even if the administration is only lifting the tariff rate quota to 80,000 metric tons for Argentina, she’s still anxious.
“I’m just really concerned,” Fischer said. “I hear from my cattle ranchers how worried they are and concerned about it,” she added. “We feel it’s not the way to go.”
Editor’s note: Sara Wyant is publisher of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., www.Agri-Pulse.com.
