Trump Exempts Ground Beef for 90 days to Counter Price Rise

[ABS News Service/24.08.2026]

President Trump on Friday announced a temporary tariff concession for imported beef, drawing immediate criticism from US beef producers and members of Congress.

The President, who made the announcement on social media, presented it as a way to increase near-term ground-beef supplies while US ranchers rebuild the domestic cattle herd.

Under the plan, the United States will allow as much as 300,000 metric tons of products intended for ground beef to enter during the next 90 days without an out-of-quota tariff.

Mr. Trump also said there was a commitment to sell the imported beef at 25 percent below current market prices.

His Truth Social announcement did not identify the supplying countries or companies, explain how the discount would be measured or enforced or provide an implementation document.

The announcement drew immediate opposition from Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Montana Republican and cattle rancher. The senator said on X that Trump’s “heart is in the right place,” but warned that the action “will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation, the largest group representing US farmers, criticized the move. “Farmers and ranchers are extremely disappointed to learn that President Trump plans to flood the American market with hundreds of millions of pounds of foreign-raised beef,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. “The US is already importing beef at record levels. This decision would be an unprecedented move and would translate to nearly an additional 60 percent increase in imports over the next 90 days.”

While beef prices are still high, importing more beef will have “long-term negative effects for consumers and for ranchers who are making decisions on whether to retain or expand their herd. Growing dependance on foreign-grown food could ultimately lead to even higher grocery costs and reliance on other nations for our food security. We urge the president to strongly reconsider his plan.”

USDA data show that the rebuilding process is only beginning. The United States had 27.6 million beef cows on January 1, 2026 – 1 percent fewer than a year earlier and the smallest inventory since 1961. Producers planned to retain 4.714 million beef replacement heifers, an increase of nearly 1 percent and the first annual rise since 2017.

USDA cautioned that an expansion in the beef-cow herd is typically preceded by two to three years of sustained growth in retained heifers. The agency attributed the cattle cycle to factors including producer profitability, input costs, weather, gestation and the time required to raise calves to market weight.