Some Republicans are blasting President Donald Trump over his administration’s efforts to lower U.S. beef prices by temporarily allowing up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported without tariffs.
“Importing a bunch of foreign beef is just a giant gift to the meat packers who then get to undercut our American ranchers who cannot differentiate their product from the cheap foreign shit,” right-wing podcaster Tomi Lahren said on X, adding that American ranchers are “being driven out of business so the land can be gobbled up for data centers and other bullshit.”
Trump announced Friday on Truth Social that he had “concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families.” He also blamed the Biden administration for high beef prices, ignoring factors like the spread of New World screwworm.
“We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices,” Trump said in his announcement. “This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”
The new policy is similar to Trump’s October proposal to import beef from Argentina, which also struck a nerve with Lahren and other Republicans. In his Friday announcement, he did not specify which country or countries would be supplying the beef.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association issued a statement following Trump’s announcement, making it clear that it was “disappointed.”
“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” the statement read. “Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning, to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”
Multiple Republicans voiced criticism of Trump’s move, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who called it “a slap in the face to American cattlemen & consumers.”