President Donald Trump announced Aug. 21 via social media that he will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with “no out-of-quota tariff.” He said he received a commitment for the beef to be sold at 25% below current market prices.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our great American beef herd to grow again,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
Trump did not specify which exporters had committed to a discounted price. A source close to the White House said a formal executive order is expected to be announced “within a couple of weeks.”
According to U.S. Bureau of Labor data, the average price of ground beef rose to a record $6.89 per pound in July. That’s a more than 10% increase from the $6.25 average price reported at the same time last year. Overall, ground beef prices have increased 18% since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
It remains unclear how much the additional duty-free imports will help consumers. The 300,000 metric tons that Trump’s order covers represent only around 2% of the U.S. average annual beef consumption.
Will this help ranchers?
Josh St. Peters, Illinois Beef Association executive director, noted Trump’s announcement comes just one day after JBS suspended some cattle buying contracts in the U.S.
“They seemed to have a signal that they’d soon be able to import foreign beef at a savings,” he said.
The president’s announcement also comes just seven days after Tyson announced it was closing its Joslin, Ill., plant. The closure left 2,500 workers unemployed and prevented the delivery of 15,000 head of cattle, mostly from Illinois and Iowa. This, St. Peters said, created a glut of cattle that the industry is still working through. It has also brought serious economic consequences for impacted families.
According to St. Peters, Trump’s recent moves to increase beef imports are shaped to improve the profitability of packers. They may or may not actually reduce consumer grocery bills.
“These moves certainly pull the rug out from under the feet of our family farmers here in the Midwest, in a time when it is already terribly challenging to pencil profitability on the farm,” St. Peters said.
Beef industry skeptical
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association officials were also less than enthusiastic about Trump’s latest plan. CFO Colin Woodall said his organization is “disappointed” by the president’s statement.
“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 in an Aug. 21 statement. “Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”
He went on to say that this is a critical time for cattle producers as they approach the time to make decisions about their herds. According to Woodall, cattle farmers and ranchers are responding to strong market signals and historically high demand. They are also working to rebuild after years of ongoing drought, high input costs and other challenges that have reduced U.S. cattle numbers.
“Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifice long-term stability for short-term messaging,” Woodall said.