The Trump administration says allowing tariff-free beef imports could help lower consumer prices, but the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is questioning whether the move will actually make a difference. NCBA Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus says much of the imported product won’t even end up in grocery store meat cases.
“The way they’ve designed this new waiver of the over-quota tariff is to encourage imports of lean beef trimmings. What most folks don’t recognize is that roughly 80% of what is consumed in the United States is produced here in the United States. What we’re bringing in is primarily lean trimmings, and a lot of that’s going to go into fast food. It’s going to be combined with our fattier trimmings and used for hamburgers, for ground beef. That’s really where we’re going to see a lot of it.”
He says it’s still unclear whether the administration’s actions will have any measurable impact on beef prices.
“To be honest with you, no one knows. This was definitely a press event. They wanted to feature some social media influencers. That’s really who they brought into the room on that. But at the end of the day, this was pitched as how they were going to help the livestock sector, how they were going to help encourage the industry to grow.”
Bacus argues the best thing Washington can do is allow market forces to work.
“The best thing that the administration can do is reduce the volatility in the marketplace. The best way they can do that is just stop trying to pick winners and losers. Let the market perform. Just give that balance and that predictability that we need. That’s a great place to start. We’ve got a red-hot economy right now. We’ve got red-hot cattle markets, and honestly, the only cure for high prices is high prices. But the last thing we need is for the government to reverse the course.”
He also says cattle producers were frustrated by how the additional beef imports were announced.
“When they announced that they were going to bring in the additional 300,000 metric tons of beef, and we all know where that’s coming from, it’s coming from South America, the industry was not consulted on that. Stakeholders were not made aware. That’s something everybody found out after the fact. So I think the way in which it was delivered and the manner of which it was held, and being told this was going to help cattle producers, no one believes any of that. There was significant backlash in the countryside, and yes, it should have been handled differently.”