President Donald Trump is in a beef with cattle ranchers over prices.
Trump lashed out at ranchers after they raised alarm over his plan to import Argentine beef, while simultaneously touting his tariffs on cattle and demanding lower prices.
“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States,” he wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
“If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years—Terrible! It would be nice if they would understand that, but they also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”
Trump told reporters on Sunday that the administration was planning to buy more beef from Argentina, claiming that “if we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”
The claim sparked worry among cattlemen, who warned that the move would stir chaos “while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices.”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said on Monday that “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.”
Farmers’ concerns have made their way to Capitol Hill, where several Republican senators broke with the Trump administration over the plan to import Argentine beef.
Idaho Sen. Jim Risch, a cattle rancher himself, told NOTUS that a “very sizable number of senators” have met with Trump to relay their concerns about the importation plan.
“It seems to go against the administration, who says, on the one hand, ‘We’ve got to keep out foreign goods—oh, except for Argentinian beef,’” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said.
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer echoed the cattlemen’s association’s call to let the free market work.
“That’s kind of the whole message, and he heard it from several members,” he said of Trump. “And I think he’s listening.”
On Tuesday, however, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Trump was in talks with Argentina about importing beef.
“It will not be very much. Argentina is also facing a foot-and-mouth disease issue,” she said, adding that the agency was committed to protecting the livestock industry.
Cattle ranchers have been enjoying some of the best business they’ve had in decades, thanks to thinning herds and sustained demand for beef despite rising prices.
The Economic Research Service at the Agriculture Department said the average cost of ground beef hit $6.25 in July after breaching the six-dollar mark for the first time in June. Beef and veal prices are forecast to rise 11.6 percent this year.
The post Trump Lashes Cattle Ranchers While Demanding Lower Prices appeared first on The Daily Beast.
