Ranchers Duke Phillips III, prepares to rope a calf during the final branding at Chico Basin Ranch in Hanover, Colorado on June 29, 2024.
Helen H. Richardson | MediaNews Group | The Denver Post | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said U.S. cattle ranchers “don’t understand” how they have benefitted from his tariffs, adding that they “have to get their prices down.”
The admonition came after some ranchers have openly criticized Trump’s proposal to import beef from Argentina in order to bring down prices for American consumers.
Trump claimed that those ranchers “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 highlighted the 50% tariff he imposed in early August on imports from Brazil, one of the top sellers of beef to the U.S.
“If it weren’t for me, they would be doing just as they’ve done for the past 20 years — Terrible!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“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!” he added.
Beef prices in the U.S. have generally risen since last year, and some products, such as boneless sirloin steaks, have shot up by double-digit percentages, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Trump told reporters on Sunday that his administration is “thinking about doing” a deal with Argentina in which “we would buy some beef” from the South American nation.
“If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down,” he said.
The comments drew swift rebukes from U.S. cattle ranchers.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said in a press release Monday that its 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.”
“This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” NCBA CEO Colin Woodall said in the release.
The NCBA did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks.
At least one Republican senator, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, has also pushed back on Trump’s proposal.
“Government intervention in the beef market will hurt our cattle ranchers,” she wrote in an X post Tuesday.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Tuesday that “a lot” of Republican senators have told Trump that they do not want Argentine beef imported to the U.S.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
— CNBC’s Mary Catherine Wellons contributed to this report.
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