Oklahoma cattle producers recently held a roundtable to talk through concerns about President Trump’s decision to lower the import tariff on up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef. Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur said it likely won’t make much difference in the price of beef at U.S. grocery stores.
“You know, I think that’s the unfortunate thing. We always are very attentive to consumers. That you know, here in America, we provide the safest, most affordable food supply in the world, right? And we care a lot about that mom at the grocery store. I reference that personally. That’s me in my household, right, at the grocery store? And you know, I think the intent of bringing in this beef to lower the price for that consumer, I don’t think that we ultimately get there for the consumers.”
Producers aren’t fans of outside market manipulation.
“In the animal protein sector, we just want the market to determine what that price should be. We produce the best beef in the world, and we’re very proud as American beef producers to do that. It is a quality product, and so we want those consumers to say we really value this product, and for the consumers to be setting that price, and the market to be setting that price as opposed to adjusting that with the approach that they’ve decided on with importing that, and then setting that 25 percent less and so, very challenging and ultimately, I don’t know, a policy that really is as beneficial as I think the intent maybe was.”