Donald Trump is facing growing criticism from within his own party over his decision to temporarily pause US tariffs on foreign beef in a bid to bring down grocery prices.
The president’s announcement that the US will import up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef without charging higher tariffs has alarmed some senior Republicans, who warn that “flooding” stores with imports will hit US ranchers. This comes as the US faces a 75-year low in cattle inventory.
Trump claimed his administration had secured a commitment that the imported would be sold at 25% below “current market prices” on Friday, adding: “This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”
But many GOP members are apprehensive and issued rare rebukes of the new policy.
“Americans want US beef on the table – not foreign imports,” John Barrasso, a Republican senator from Wyoming and the majority whip, wrote in a post on X. “Wyoming ranchers produce the highest quality beef in the world. Our ranchers don’t ask for special treatment. They simply want a fair marketplace. It needs to be easier – not harder – for Wyoming ranchers to feed America.”
On Tuesday, Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, defended the president’s move as an attempt to mitigate prices for consumers.
“This is a very short-term fix from the president’s perspective, that he believed necessary to get lower cost beef on to American plates,” Rollins said in an interview with Spectrum News.
However, the agriculture secretary said that she did not yet know where the beef would be imported from, noting that it was part of US trade representative Jamieson Greer’s remit. “I am actually not part of any of those conversations, so I am not sure what that looks like. I think we’ll know very soon,” Rollins said.
This comes after a cascade of criticism from Republican lawmakers last week.
“I absolutely want to see those prices come down,” said congresswoman Ashley Hinson, the Republican nominee in a competitive race for a US Senate seat in Iowa. “But I think this isn’t the way to do that.”
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Hinson added: “I think we need to focus on letting our cattle men grow their herd … it takes some time and it takes some resources, and so I think we should be letting market conditions to do what they do – demand for beef is still really high.”
Other Republicans in states with sizeable cattle farming industries also criticized the president’s recent decision. “Short term policy shifts do not equal long term solutions,” said Pete Ricketts, a Republican senator from Nebraska and prominent ally of Trump. “Flooding the market with lower quality beef compromises Nebraska farmers and ranchers. They should be enabled to grow herd sizes and meet consumer demand.”
Another Trump loyalist, Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana, said that he had advised the president “against this course of action for a year”. Sheehy added that while Trump’s “heart is in the right place on wanting lower prices for the American people”, the action would actually make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild their herd. Most of whom, he said, are “Maga Republicans”.
