RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The Independent — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 3 sourcesPresident announces cattle imports to be sold at below-market rates until just after Election Day
Bookmark Comments Go to comments Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks
President Donald Trump is claiming to have struck a deal to flood the U.S. market with as much as 300,000 tons of beef imported from abroad and sold under price controls in a bid to lower prices ahead of the November midterm elections.
In a post on Truth Social , Trump said he’d “concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families” and falsely alleged that beef prices had “soared” under the previous Biden administration “at their fastest rate” and blamed Biden for reductions in ranchers’ cattle herds to “the smallest size in modern history.”
“As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices,” Trump said.
He added that the agreement would “reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”
When pressed by The Independent about who Trump had been negotiating with, the source of the imported beef, the identity of the person or persons who’d committed to impose a price control on the imported beef, a White House official would only say that it was with “foreign beef exporters” and that Trump would “formally sign an executive order” to execute the agreement “within the next two weeks.”
But the president’s early morning announcement comes as consumers continue to struggle with cost of living issues exacerbated by his tariff policies and his decision to start a war with Iran that has effectively closed off the Strait of Hormuz for the last six months, choking off approximately a fifth of the world’s oil supply and causing energy prices to skyrocket.
Though he frequently claims economic conditions were worse in the U.S. up to the day he took office last year and continues to blame Joe Biden for nearly every negative economic indicator, Trump has presided over a rise in beef prices that has frustrated home cooks and restauranteurs alike as supply chains have tightened and costs have continued to rise.
Since Trump returned to power last year, the price of ground beef has risen from $5.45 per pound to $6.85 per pound, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s an approximate 25 percent spike in just under two years, which experts say is attributable to Trump’s tariff policies as well as supply chain crunches that have made feed and other inputs more expensive.
Additionally, the decision by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency to shutter an Agriculture Department program that helped keep the North American Screwworm in check has caused a resurgence in the parasite, leading the government to effectively halt imports of Mexican beef, even as Trump has repeatedly moved to boost American import of beef from Argentina, which is led by right-wing populist Javier Milei, a close ally of the president.
This latest move is likely to draw protests from American ranchers who have bristled at previous efforts to lower beef prices by bringing imported beef into the U.S. market,
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.