President Trump is signing a pair of executive orders aimed at lowering beef prices, a White House official told The Post – his latest effort to ease affordability as the price of a tasty steak skyrockets and inflation concerns loom ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
The new orders will ramp up beef imports and encourage the renewal of the US cattle herd, which has shrunk to a 75-year low amid record drought levels and higher production costs.
The first executive order will temporarily suspend an annual tariff-rate quota on beef imports, which applies a higher rate after a certain amount of beef has come into the country – allowing more of the product to come through at a lower price, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The other order will direct the Small Business Administration to increase loans and access to capital for US cattle ranchers, and roll back endangered species protections for cattle-craving gray and Mexican wolves – a major complaint from beef bigwigs, according to the Journal. The order will also cut down on requirements for ranchers, like forcing them to use electronic ear tags on livestock.
Americans have seen some relief in grocery store aisles. Egg prices, for one, have eased as flocks around the country recovered from rampant bird flu outbreaks.
But beef prices are still sky-high – up 40% over the past five years.
Extremely dry conditions have reduced the amount of grass available for grazing, making farmers more reliant on feed and raising their costs.
Further hampering supply was a flesh-eating pest called the New World Screwworm discovered in Mexican cattle herds, forcing the US to temporarily halt imports.
Demand for beef and veal products has remained steady, pushing prices artificially high – making it beef major driver of food inflation under the Trump administration.
However, Trump’s efforts to curb beef prices could further anger cattle ranchers, who were already upset after the government quadrupled beef imports from Argentina in February.
At the time, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said the additional Argentinian imports would damage the “livelihoods of American cattlemen and women.”
American ranchers and farmers have since sounded the alarm over the Iran war, as the Strait of Hormuz blockade disrupts global shipments of fertilizer – sending their input costs even higher.
The US is poised to import a record amount of beef this year, largely from Brazil, Australia and Canada, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Brazil – the world’s largest beef exporter – has been shipping more beef to the US since China, its usual top buyer, has imposed stricter import quotas.
The Trump administration has largely blamed meatpackers, particularly foreign-owned companies, for jacking up prices on American customers.
The Department of Justice last week confirmed it has launched an antitrust investigation into the “Big Four” meatpackers, which control more than 85% of the US processing market.
Trump has been keen on affordability initiatives ahead of the midterm elections, as consumer sentiment in May plunged to a fresh record low on inflation concerns amid the Iran war.
The president has exempted several food items from his tariffs, delayed planned increases on lumber and furniture imports, and seemingly dropped his threat to hike the baseline tariff on all imports from 10% to 15%.
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