In response to President Trump’s remarks suggesting action to lower beef prices by expanding imports from Argentina, industry leaders and analysts are weighing the potential impacts such a move could have on American cattle producers and the domestic beef market. Reactions follow.
Farm Bureau Urges Restraint on Beef Imports
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall commented today on President Trump’s plans to reduce beef prices through increased beef imports from Argentina. “We know America’s families face challenges when food prices rise, but it’s important for President Trump to remember that farmers are facing an economic storm as well, and a vibrant U.S. cattle herd is at stake. Many of America’s beef farmers have operated in the red for several years. Adverse weather and low prices drove cattle herds down to levels not seen in decades. Weakened cattle prices are the last thing needed in farm country, where farmers are being paid historically low prices for crops across the board while expenses remain high. “We urge the administration to carefully consider the damage importing more beef and cattle from other countries will have as cattle farmers decide whether to invest in rebuilding America’s herds. Just the mention of beef imports created more instability and uncertainty for America’s farmers. Flooding markets with foreign-grown beef could affect our nation’s ability to be food independent in the long-term. We look forward to learning more about the president’s plan, and we stand ready to work with him to ensure farmers and ranchers can survive this economic storm.”
Argentinian Beef Import Plan Harms U.S. Cattle Producers
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) responded to comments from President Donald J. Trump that suggested importing Argentinian beef as a solution to lower beef prices. NCBA’s family farmers and ranchers are concerned that rewarding Argentina with this expanded access to the U.S. market harms American cattlemen and women, while also interfering with the free market. “NCBA’s family farmers and ranchers have numerous concerns with importing more Argentinian beef to lower prices for consumers. This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall. “Additionally, Argentina has a deeply unbalanced trade relationship with the U.S. In the past five years Argentina has sold more than $801 million of beef into the U.S. market. By comparison, the U.S. has sold just over $7 million worth of American beef to Argentina. Argentina also has a history of foot-and-mouth disease, which if brought to the United States, could decimate our domestic livestock production.” Although beef prices have increased, consumer demand for beef remains strong because of the work American cattle producers have done to improve the quality and safety of U.S. beef. We call on President Trump and members of Congress to let the market work, rather than intervening in ways that do nothing but harm rural America.
Oklahoma Cattlemens association response to more Argentina imports to lower beef price
President Trump’s notion to bring more beef in from Argentina in order to lower consumer beef price is very bad policy. This action of government intervention will cause tremendous negative impacts on Oklahoma and America’s beef producers. Further compounding this is the lack of reciprocal trade and the potential animal health concerns with foot and mouth disease. We urge the President to not follow through on this policy.
NFU Responds to Government Efforts to Lower Beef Prices
Following President Trump’s comments about importing beef from Argentina to lower prices for American consumers, National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew reaffirmed the need to strengthen fairness and competition within the U.S. beef industry rather than rely on imported products. “Lowering beef prices for consumers starts with restoring fairness in the marketplace, not by importing beef from Argentina and undercutting American ranchers,” said Larew. “Years of drought, depressed cattle prices, and unchecked corporate consolidation have already pushed many family farmers and ranchers to the brink, all while consumers pay more at the grocery store. “The White House recently bailed out Argentina with $40 billion in U.S. taxpayer-backed aid, and Argentina’s response was to strike new deals selling soybeans to China—deals that hurt American crop farmers. The last thing we need is to reward them by importing more of their beef. “In times of extreme uncertainty in the farm economy, we should be doubling down on our efforts to support family farmers and ranchers here at home. The answer isn’t foreign beef; it’s rebuilding herds to meet domestic demand, restoring competition in meatpacking, enacting mandatory country-of-origin labeling so consumers know where their beef comes from, and creating a fair marketplace that works for both farmers and consumers. “History shows that when competition disappears, ranchers receive less for their cattle even as grocery store prices climb, eroding fairness across the entire supply chain. Now more than ever, we hope the administration brings family farmers and ranchers to the table to consider solutions that put all American families first.”
USCA Comments on President Trump’s Remarks Regarding Beef Prices and Proposed Imports from Argentina
United States Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Justin Tupper issued the following statement in response to today’s public remarks by President Trump suggesting action to lower beef prices through expanded imports from Argentina: “USCA commented on Friday regarding potential steps by the Administration to address beef prices, and we will reiterate our position today: government intervention is not needed in an industry that is already correcting in response to years of market pressure. “Today’s comments alone triggered an immediate reaction in the markets—cattle futures dropped significantly. It’s important to underscore: the current price of beef on grocery store shelves reflects the true, inflation-adjusted cost of raising cattle in America today. “Already this year, the U.S. has imported more than 1.26 million metric tons of beef, primarily from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and New Zealand. Increasing imports under current rules ultimately benefits foreign suppliers and multinational packers, while putting U.S. ranchers on the losing end and depriving American consumers of honest transparency at the meat counter. “USCA supports affordable food prices for American families. But we do oppose policies or loopholes that manipulate the market to address a solution that will be solved through natural market behavior. This approach weakens our industry’s foundation and undermines rural America. “We have appreciated President Trump’s ‘America First’ priorities, which have consistently highlighted the importance of supporting U.S. producers and reinforcing national food security. This moment presents an excellent opportunity to show genuine American-first leadership by prioritizing strong domestic production, and fair, transparent markets for both ranchers and consumers.”
R- Calf Statement on Plan to Increase Argentine Beef Imports
On Sunday aboard Air Force One, the Associated Press reported that President Trump announced his plan to bring U.S. beef prices down by importing beef from Argentina. Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest cattle association that exclusively represents cattle farmers and ranchers, issued the following statement in response to the president’s purported plan. “We acknowledge that beef prices are higher than what a competitive market would predict. Decades of failure to manage excessive imports and address unprecedented industry concentration have caused beef prices to disproportionately increase more than cattle prices. “As beef prices increased, our cattle herd shrank because increasing volumes of imports displaced the need for domestic cattle. Then along came a drought that accelerated the ongoing decline of our domestic herd, converting our industry’s chronic problem into today’s acute problem. “Global packers are importing beef from about 20 different countries, including Argentina, and because we do not have a mandatory country-of-origin labeling law for beef, the global packers do not need to reduce the price of imported product compared to domestic product. This negates any theoretical benefit of using more imports to drive down domestic beef prices. “The president should immediately require mandatory country-of-origin labels on beef so American consumers can choose to help rebuild and expand our nation’s contracted cattle herd. “Market participants know that increased imports from Argentina will reduce demand for domestic cattle, and that’s why cattle markets have responded negatively to the president’s plan. And there couldn’t be a worse time for this to happen, as many producers are getting ready to sell this year’s production, meaning they will receive less for their cattle, and that will threaten their ability to remain economically viable, particularly as they face increased input costs in their operations. “For decades the government has been inviting more imports from countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Namibia, claiming these increased imports would provide consumers more choices and lower consumer beef prices. This did not work and cannot work in a market where these imports are not differentiated with a country-of-origin label and where competitive market forces have been replaced with corporate control by concentrated global beef packers and concentrated beef retailers. “There is a wave of beef price-fixing cases working their way through the court system. President Trump should direct his antitrust enforcers to determine the extent to which the alleged unlawful price fixing has contributed to today’s higher beef prices. “We urge the president to manage imports, restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and put an end to the monopolistic control that packers and retailers have over our beef supply chain. Doing so will incentivize America’s ranchers to rebuild and expand the U.S. herd to meet our national security needs and ensure that consumer beef prices are determined by competitive market forces.”
