Trump defends beef import plan after GOP blowback
The Hill · C · trust 39/100
Comments: by Mallory Wilson - 08/21/26 5:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Mallory Wilson - 08/21/26 5:59 PM ET Comments: Link copied NOW PLAYING President Trump defended his decision Friday to temporarily suspend higher tariffs on ground beef imports, saying it’s “what the people want.”
“We want to get the beef prices down, so we will get them down a little bit,” Trump said before boarding Air Force One to fly to South Carolina. “That’s what people want, that’s what the voters want, and that’s what I want.”
“The ranchers are great. They are my people. I love the ranchers; they’ve done a fantastic job,” he added. “But they admit that we need a little help in order to get the prices down, so that is what we’re doing.”
Trump in a social media post earlier Friday announced that he was temporarily lifting certain tariffs on imported ground beef to lower the cost of beef for consumers. The suspension would be for 90 days and would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported.
He also said a deal was coming that would lower the price of ground beef to 25 percent below the current market price but didn’t say where the beef would be coming from.
When asked at Joint Base Andrews what countries the deal was with, he said he didn’t want to say.
“There are a few countries, but they’re going to be sending in the highest quality beef, and it’s something that we need,” he said.
Ranchers and GOP lawmakers immediately criticized the president’s announcement.
Colin Woodall, CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said in a statement that the association was “disappointed” by the decision.
“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,” Woodall said. “Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning, to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”
“This is a critical time of year for cattle producers, as we approach the season where they are making decisions regarding their herds,” he added. “Cattle farmers and ranchers are responding to strong market signals and historically high demand, and we are already working to rebuild after years of ongoing drought, high input costs and other challenges that have reduced U.S. cattle numbers.”
He said the announcement throws “cold water” on the idea of expanding herds.
Meriwether Farms, a farm-to-table cattle operation from Wyoming, called the president’s actions a “betrayal” on social media.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said she was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
“We all want lower grocery prices, but as I’ve said for months, we cannot do it at the expense of American producers,” she wrote on social platform X. “Flooding the market with foreign beef hurts our livestock industry and undermines the long-term solution: growing the U.S. cattle herd to meet demand.”
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