The Trump administration has reportedly put on hold a proposal to suspend tariffs on imported beef.
President Donald Trump had planned to sign two executive orders to cut tariffs on imported beef and relax regulations on American cattle producers. However, a White House official confirmed that these actions are delayed while the administration finalizes the details, reported the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
The plan also included directing the Small Business Administration to expand loan and capital access for U.S. ranchers, ease Endangered Species Act protections for gray and Mexican wolves, and roll back certain Agriculture Department regulations affecting U.S. cattle producers.
White House did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.
Ranchers Push Back On Beef Imports
The report of boosting beef imports amid tariff suspension was met with pushback from U.S. cattle ranchers, a key Trump constituency, with the Ranchers-Cattlemen Legal Action Fund (R-CALF USA) warning that cheaper foreign meat could hurt domestic producers. Ranchers also cautioned that higher imports may discourage herd expansion unless import limits are reviewed again within a few years.
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard called the reported White House plan “no doubt an experiment” wherein dominant meatpackers and retailers, not consumers, would likely benefit due to a lack of competition in the U.S. beef market. Instead, he urged the White House to mandate country-of-origin labeling for all beef sold in the U.S. and end requirements forcing domestic cattle producers to fund advertising for foreign beef through the federal beef checkoff program.
Beef Prices Keep Climbing
The delay in the plan comes at a time when global food prices have been rising for the third consecutive month, with meat prices hitting new highs. Beef has remained a major driver of U.S. food inflation over the past 18 months, with ground beef prices rising 40% over five years even as egg and milk prices eased.
In February, the White House issued a proclamation temporarily increasing tariff-free imports of lean beef trimmings from Argentina by 80,000 metric tons to help ease supply shortages and lower ground beef prices for U.S. consumers. The administration said the move was needed after drought conditions and shrinking cattle herds pushed domestic beef prices higher.
In April, the U.S. Justice Department had also launched a criminal antitrust investigation into large meatpacking companies such as JBS (Brazil), Cargill, Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), and National Beef after Trump’s call for a probe into market manipulation.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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