Trump argues with cattlemen over the price of beef.
Trump to Quadruple Argentine Beef Imports While US Ranchers Fume
Reuters reports Trump to Quadruple Argentine Beef Imports While US Ranchers Fume
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is quadrupling the country’s low-tariff imports of Argentine beef in his attempt to lower grocery store beef prices, a White House official said on Thursday, evoking fury from the nation’s cattle ranchers.
Raising the tariff rate quota on Argentine beef to 80,000 metric tons will let the country ship more of its beef to the U.S. at a lower rate of duty. U.S. beef prices have set records due to tight cattle supplies and strong consumer demand.
“A deal of this magnitude with Argentina would undercut the very foundation of our cattle industry,” said Justin Tupper, a South Dakota cattle producer and president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association.
Farmers were also angered by Trump’s $20 billion currency swap with Argentina while they lost out to the South American nation on soybean sales to China.
Trump on the Price of Beef
Truth Social Link: 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, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil. 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!
Also note: “The price setters are the packers. If there is any gouging of the consumer it comes from them.”
Farm-State Republicans Reach Breaking Point
Politico reports Farm-State Republicans Finally Reach Their Breaking Point
For President Donald Trump, it was a brief musing to reporters on Air Force One about his plans to import beef from Argentina.
GOP lawmakers in cattle-producing states unleashed a flurry of calls over the following days to the White House and the Agriculture Department. A small group of Republican senators, including retiring Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, cornered USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in a private meeting less than 48 hours after the Oct. 19 comment.
So far, the burst of objections has not generated a U-turn from the administration, which is going ahead with a beef import plan that Trump officials argue will both lower steak and hamburger prices for American consumers and bolster relations with a key Trump ally, Argentinian President Javier Milei.
But it has exposed the limits of GOP lawmakers’ tolerance for policies that have especially tested states heavy on agriculture. Some of the president’s staunchest Hill allies watched for months as Trump’s tariffs devastated farmers. More recently, they begged his deputies to reopen key farm offices during the shutdown. Then came the beef beef, with one GOP senator granted anonymity to speak candidly calling it a “a betrayal of America First principles.”
Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), and Greg Steube (R-Fla.), along with 11 other House Republicans, warned against Trump’s beef move, according to a letter sent Tuesday to Rollins and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that was obtained exclusively by POLITICO.
The frustrations are also playing out on the Senate floor this week on a series of votes to undo some of Trump’s global tariffs. On Tuesday, five GOP senators joined Democrats to reverse 50 percent tariffs on Brazil; four Republicans voted Wednesday to cancel tariffs on Canada. While the votes are largely symbolic — House Republicans have preempted any challenges to Trump tariffs until February — the message was sent.
“Brazil had a trade surplus, and the impetus behind it appears to be a disagreement with a judicial proceeding,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said, referring to Trump’s displeasure with the prosecution of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. “I just don’t think that’s a strong basis for using the trade lever.”
CPI Ground Beef Price per Pound
CPI and PPI Beef Components Percent Change From Year Ago
Beef Chart Notes
- The price of ground beef is up by $2.45 per pound since pre-Covid (63.3 percent)
- The price of ground beef is up by $0.65 per pound from a year ago (11.5 percent)
- The slaughter cattle index is up 118 percent since pre-Covid
- The slaughter cattle index is up 26.5 percent from a year ago
Trump’s Observations on Prices
- There is virtually no inflation
- Cattlemen are doing well because tariffs have raised prices
- The price setters are the packers. This is despite the fact that the PPI is up 26.5 percent from a year ago.
- Cattlemen don’t understand tariffs.
Unlike you, I see absolutely no contradictions in any of this. This is Trumperland where contradictions do not exist by nature.
Obviously, there is price gouging by the meat packers although prices are not going up because there is virtually no inflation.
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Trump tries to get beef farmers to adopt his way of thinking by insulting their work over the last two decades. Trump statesmanship on display.
There is “no inflation” because the BLS says the consumer has substituted sawdust for ground beef.
Brings to mind the old joke – “Just when I finally got my horse used to eating sawdust, he upped and died on me.”
The MAGA movement typifies a number of Eric Hofer principles. Present sacrifices are necessary to achieve the glory of the future.
beef? whats that?
It’s what a lot of people here in Mishtalk do in the comments section.
When you think in 5D you are blessed (or cursed) with two extra dimensions of dumb. That’s how MAGA thinks, it’s no different from the confederates to the nazis and they always lose because what they think is just dumb.
But despite ranchers, farmers, SNAP, ACA users and most of MAGA being thrown under the bus, they’ll keep doubling down on idiocy. If you need proof just look at the current congress.
Stockholm syndrome – a psychological response where victims develop positive feelings toward their captors or abusers over time. This can occur in various abusive situations, including hostage scenarios and domestic violence.
“Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is that you will destroy the Government, unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution as you please, on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule or ruin in all events.” -Abraham Lincoln on MAGA.
Got exit strategy?
OT: Latest from Simplicius.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/desperate-special-forces-bid-to-save
A funny set of headlines on RT today remind anyone of the simple lesson to ignore what they say:
https://swentr.site/news/627252-meeting-with-xi-will-lead
https://swentr.site/news/627225-gabbard-us-regime-change
and instead watch what they do:
https://swentr.site/news/627254-trump-nigeria-christians-military-action
https://swentr.site/news/627242-us-amass-troops-venezuelan-coast
Amid tariffs disputes, the US and India signed a ten years defense pact in Kuala Lumpur. They will beef up production of jets engines. The will beef up production of ships, missiles and drones. They will produce self driving helicopters AI, without pilots. India will reduce its corp with Putin.
You believe everything Humpty Dumpty says, don’t you?
Firstpost: Palki Sharma, confirmed by BBC. Blackhawk, op by a national guard soldier, trained for 1h, to pickup stuff, fly 70 miles and drop it.
Wow.. I didn’t know it was a function of government to lower food prices,, can’t find that in my copy of the Constitution. And not sure anything they did to “lower” food prices would be Constitutional.
Also,, if I want to buy a cow from Argentina, or any other country where does the government get the authority to stop me. Can’t find that in the Constitution either. And finally, I thought “free trade” was what made this Country great and our system of commerce far better than any other Country.
It’s not, but it’s also not their job to keep the prices of things artificially high via unnecessary regulation and by picking winners and losers, yet they do both things very well.
You’re probably the best person to ask, with your knowledge. What is the difference between:
???
zip. except the make believe country like usa can keep delusional and do so much damage make believing……..
U.S. Constitution Article 1, section 8: “The Congress shall have Power …
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations ….”
“Commerce” traditionally and generally means trade, business.
“Regulate” generally means set limits on.
There are other clauses with grants of government power which less explicitly touch on this too.
Questions are pending before the courts on how much Trump can tap into this.
history does not repeat itself it rhymes The first tariff in the USA was the Tariff of 1789, signed into law by President George Washington on July 4, 1789. This law, also known as the Hamilton Tarriff
If something is not written into The Constitution, it does not mean you can’t do it. What kind of logic are you using, anyway?
The amount of beef he is buying from ArgenUSdoleatina is unlikely to improve the situation, which is ultimately being driven by the “hoax”. When drought is prevalent in ranch country, ranchers have no choice other than to sell productive cows and heifers because they do not have enough forage. They have to cash out before they start losing weight and getting sick, or worse. The second the drought lessens, herd size rebounds, but drought conditions have dominated for a long time. When I was in school I read in one of my Dad’s journals the cattle population of the US was ~125 million. There were around 210 million Americans. Now it’s 86 million head of cattle and there are ~340 million of us. Food security requires surpluses. Weather requires farm and ranch socialism. They’re about to announce a heifer retention program (socialism). Maybe it will rain. Next spring the screw worm will probably gain a foothold in the Southwest and make its fast migration north. I used to spray them when I was in grade school. Usually around the eyes. They eat live flesh.
The screw worm facilities got axed by doge right
I don’t think so. The sterile fly approach was containing them, for the most part, in Panama. They have been moving north since 2020. They’re restarting the facility in Texas. SB online for summer 2027. The wildcard is climate change. Will the NWS have a leg up over sterile flies?
Good thing they don’t get heartworm.
At least when socialism is done by Trump, it is defined as Making America Great Again and not some evil commie ploy by the baby diddlers.
– U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is making an attempt to lower grocery store beef prices. It would seem some of Our Nation’s cattle ranchers are upset.
> Hmm… Are these some of the same Cattle Ranchers Families that had The Farm Security Administration (FSA) that was established in 1935 during the Great Depression to assist struggling farmers, including cattle ranchers.
In recent years, U.S. government policies have included tariffs on imported beef to protect domestic ranchers from foreign competition. Programs have also been implemented to stabilize prices and support ranchers during periods of low cattle prices or adverse conditions like drought.
>> Appears on the surface, a bit Hypocritical No? It also appears as though Prices must come down. I don’t care how, but they better, to stay profitable and competitive. Invest much more into infrastructure and Processes. Streamline even more, and combine resources with other Farmers for Innovative Solutions Etc. As I am sure all are being looked into, or have been, or maybe simply time to revisit things.
If a REAL INVESTIGATION were done into beef inflation, I feel very confident that the MAIN CULPRET are cattle ranchers who have intentionally lowered their herd sizes while complaining about climate change. Hell, even Bill Gates is now on record saying is not as bad as they’ve made it out to be.
In 1983, the US had ~ 115M head of cattle with a population of 233M. Nowadays, that herd size is headed towards 90M with an extra 100M+ mouths to feed. If you restrict supply, prices go up.
We can sit here at laugh at TACO pointing to tariffs are raising beef prices, which we all really know isn’t the full story. Beef prices like everything else have been on the rise since COVID. Every producer known to mankind is taking advantage of consumer inflation expectations. Once it’s ingrained, the only way to get rid of it is a recession. And that little 4-week recession in spring of 2020 didn’t count.
The cattle ranchers love tariffs jacking up the price of their product, but heaven forbid Trump consider doing something like a carve out that will bring the price of imported beef down.
Whoa, wait a minute. Both you and Doug78 have been very vocal babbling that tariffs don’t cause inflation yet here were are dealing with beef inflation. Not only that but Trump admits that his tariffs are causing inflation.
And that’s the whole point of all the tariffs isn’t it, to drive up prices? This is true for cars, steels, beef and whatever else Trump has tariffs on now.
And the solution to inflation now seems to be to open up the trade and import goods from another country.
You’ve got a lot of egg on your face.
Since you own half of all Argentinean Cattle ranches you should be happy about what Trump is doing for you.
Yes, of course, tariffs are raising prices. I’ve never said they haven’t. What I’ve said consistently is that broadly speaking, they haven’t raised prices all that much to-date or nearly to the level that all the Trump haters were crowing about back on Liberation Day.
Now, there will always be exceptions, and I’m sure beef “might” be one of them. But the main points of my post still stand:
The number one driver over the long-term for rising beef prices is less supply.
Cattle ranchers love tariffs on foreign beef imports, and they whine endlessly if Trump plans to do something to try to right size prices.
There are zero inconsistencies in my post.
You didn’t ever expect him to admit anything other than being 100% correct, or were you born yesterday?
I would have to assume that cattle ranchers would not intentionally lower their Main “Profit Item” I would not be surprised if they whined to get the Federal Assistance that “They Received“ however. As they say: “Desperate Times call for”…
Unfortunately, like Car Insurance for Drivers, Ranchers get no (affordable) Insurance to speak of. They do require assistance now and again due to weather, and situations changing. They are a National Staple as well, so attention will always be paid to them.
I don’t need to hear them yell about others receiving help, that we can, will, may, have to rely on as well. Keep all your options always on the table (ask GM about that).
My main point is that cattle ranchers are fine with smaller herds, since this restricts supply & pushes up prices. The bottom line is that there’s no shortage of cattle / beef. Everyone can go to their favorite beef market & buy all the beef they’d care to eat.
No, ranchers are not using the “hoax” as an excuse to sell productive cows and heifers.
I guarantee you that every single Republican Senator and House member who is complaining, will continue to toe the MAGA party line like good little sheep. Maybe their constituents should elect people who still have a spine.
The problem is they don t embrass the pro abortion and pro gun regulation of such peoples
Dude, the only thing that’s going to solve inflation is a nasty recession. Joe Biden did way more than Trump’s tariffs to-date to push up inflation. Remember that 9%+ happened on your boy’s watch, not Trump’s.
the voters of the maga cult reps are spineless and stupid and love being in the cult. democracy works. always has. always will. people vote themselves.
If my being in a cult keeps me from thinking like you, then I’m all in.
I’ll pass on the kool-aid though. Not going that far, broski.
gulp gulp. slurp down the kool aide and the penis of your cult leader. don’t forget to swallow.
Um, you’re too stupid to realize that I’m talking about the Jonestown cult that “drank kool-aid” given to them by Jim Jones that poisoned them to death.
Instead, you seem to think a vulgar comment is going to cause me to lose sleep over being put in my place.
Nice try, broksi.
The result of high beef prices? You will eat bugs, and you will love them.
Where have I heard that prediction before? From the same people who said you will own nothing, and you will be happy.
They got what they voted for.
Anyone who trusts what taco might say at any moment in time can only be sure of one thing. He is likely to change his mind as every day is a new day for him.
Could you date the “recommended articles”?