The plan by President Trump to import more beef from Argentina to lower beef prices for consumers has been given the “thumbs down” by many U.S. cattle producers.
In a recent interview with Michigan Ag Today, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President and CEO Colin Woodall said the plan would harm America’s beef producers.
“We’re extremely disappointed with the President’s comments and his approach. [The U.S.] has the highest quality beef that’s ever been produced in the history of this industry. We are finally get paid for that quality, and in essence, the President basically told us to go pound sand,” said Woodall.
During a press conference held last Thursday during the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Michigan Ag Today asked U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins for her response to criticism from Woodall and other cattle producers who say they are unhappy with the President’s plan.
“What the President was talking about was nothing much different from what we have done for a really long time,” she said.
According to Rollins, the U.S. currently imports about 2 million metric tons of beef each year—which is about 17 percent of all the beef (12 million metric tons) consumed in the U.S.
“So, the idea—and most of that is imported to mix in for ground beef, sort of the lower-cost beef for those who can’t afford a $30, $50 or $70 steak—currently, we import about 20,000 metric tons from Argentina, so a very small amount. The President was talking about going to 40, 60 or 80,000 metric tons—even a small amount of the 2 million we already import,” said Rollins.
“When you put that up against the fact that we have closed the ports—we have no crossing of live cattle in the last almost six or so months, the tariffs—the 50-percent tariffs on Brazil. So, what the President was talking about in terms of Argentina doesn’t even make up for what we haven’t gotten across in the last few months,” said Rollins.
She adds that the Trump administration has also released a plan to rebuild U.S. cattle herds and support America’s beef producers.
“We’re opening up 5 million acres of Forest Service Land—USDA land and [U.S. Department of] Interior Land for very low-cost leases for our ranchers to have an additional opportunity to build their herds,” said Rollins. “We are putting a ton of money into smaller processing plants around the country [to allow] more competition from the processors, and that’s really important. USDA is going to be launching a $100 million ad campaign in January [called] ‘Buy American Beef, Product of the USA’.”
Last Wednesday, 14 Republican House members signed a letter addressed to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer expressing concerns over President Trump’s plan to increase imports of beef from Argentina in order to lower retail beef prices for consumers.
The letter reads, “While we share the Administration’s goal of lowering costs for consumers, we are concerned that granting additional market access to Argentina – already one of our largest beef suppliers – will undermine American cattle producers, weaken our position in ongoing trade negotiations, and reintroduce avoidable animal-health risks. On average, Argentina exports over $200 million of beef annually to the U.S. while purchasing less than $2 million of U.S. beef in return. This persistent imbalance, combined with Argentina’s continued tariffs on U.S. beef and its documented history of foot-and-mouth disease, raises serious questions about reciprocity, safety, and long-term fairness.”
CLICK BELOW to hear the full comments from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins regarding President Trump’s plan to import more beef from Argentina:
