Trump Waives Beef Import Tariffs for 90 Days
Trump Waives Beef Import Tariffs for 90 Days
The News
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has "concluded a deal" to let up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef into the United States with no out-of-quota tariff for the next 90 days, an effort to bring down soaring beef prices.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Raw Story calculated the volume at more than 2.6 billion quarter-pound hamburgers.
Trump said the imported beef comes with a commitment that it will be sold 25 percent below current market prices.
Timeline
President Richard Nixon issued a similar directive suspending restrictions on meat imports amid rising meat prices — but without any parallel commitment that the meat be sold below market rates.
Beef prices climbed sharply amid a severe cattle shortage, worsened by a screwworm infestation that has threatened Texas ranchers.
Trump posts the 300,000-metric-ton, 90-day tariff waiver on Truth Social. Reuters and Bloomberg report the plan the same morning.
Reactions
"As everyone knows, under President Biden, beef prices soared at their fastest rate and the American beef herd fell to its smallest size in modern history," Trump wrote.
"As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff. We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices."
"This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again," he added.
Critics cited by Raw Story blame the Trump administration for the screwworm problem, pointing to its termination of USAID-funded screwworm monitoring programs operated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Bloomberg framed the move as a bid to lower consumer prices — a key concern for the White House ahead of the November midterm elections.
What's Next
The tariff relief runs 90 days from Friday, putting its expiration in late November — after the midterm vote.
The open questions are who supplies the 300,000 metric tons, how the promised 25 percent discount is enforced, and whether American ranchers already squeezed by a shrinking herd push back on a wave of duty-free imports.
More
The core problem the waiver is aimed at is supply: the US cattle herd is small and the screwworm infestation has added pressure on Texas producers. Cheaper imported ground beef can cool retail prices quickly, but it does nothing to rebuild the herd — which is why Trump cast the 90 days as breathing room rather than a permanent policy.
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