President Donald Trump said the United States will temporarily allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to enter without an out-of-quota tariff, with imported supplies pledged at 25% below current market prices as the administration seeks to lower consumer costs while U.S. ranchers rebuild cattle herds.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration has finalized a temporary beef import agreement designed to increase U.S. supplies and drive down ground beef prices while domestic cattle producers work to replenish herds that have fallen to historically low levels.
Under the agreement, the United States will permit up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to enter the country without an out-of-quota tariff for 90 days.
Trump said the administration also secured a commitment that beef brought into the United States under the agreement will be sold at prices 25% below prevailing market levels.
“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.
The president described the temporary import increase as an effort to provide consumers with more affordable ground beef without abandoning the administration’s longer-term objective of expanding domestic cattle production.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” Trump said.
The announcement comes as the U.S. beef industry continues confronting limited cattle supplies and historically high retail prices.
The White House said the average retail price of ground beef reached a record $6.69 per pound in December 2025.
Federal agriculture figures also show that the nation’s cattle inventory remains constrained.
The Department of Agriculture reported in July that the United States had approximately 28.5 million beef cows, down 1% from the previous year. The estimated 2026 calf crop was also 2% lower.
Those numbers indicate that rebuilding the domestic herd will take time even as consumers continue demanding beef.
The Kansas City Federal Reserve reported this month that the combination of strong consumer demand and restricted U.S. cattle supplies has contributed to higher beef prices.
At the same time, elevated operating expenses and uncertainty have discouraged ranchers from rapidly expanding their herds, further limiting the speed at which domestic supplies can recover.
Trump blamed part of the supply problem on conditions carried over from the Biden administration, saying beef prices “soared at their fastest rate” during former President Joe Biden’s tenure while the U.S. cattle herd declined to unusually low levels.
Friday’s agreement is not the administration’s first attempt to increase the amount of beef available to U.S. consumers.
In February, Trump authorized an additional 80,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings from Argentina to enter the United States tariff-free each year.
The administration has also announced plans to resume cattle imports from Mexico following a yearlong restriction related to the threat posed by New World screwworm.
That interruption removed another source of cattle from the U.S. supply chain, adding pressure to an already tight market and contributing to record retail beef prices.
The New World screwworm restriction was imposed to protect U.S. livestock from the parasitic pest, but the suspension of Mexican cattle imports further constrained supplies available to producers and processors.
The administration is now pursuing several avenues simultaneously: reopening cattle trade with Mexico, expanding tariff-free access for Argentine beef and temporarily permitting a much larger quantity of imported ground beef under the 90-day agreement announced Friday.
The latest measure is specifically structured as a short-term intervention rather than a permanent expansion of tariff-free imports.
By limiting the exemption to 90 days, the administration is seeking to increase immediate supplies available to American consumers while allowing domestic producers more time to rebuild breeding herds and increase future production.
The distinction is important because increasing cattle numbers cannot happen immediately. Ranchers must retain more breeding animals and produce additional calves before substantially larger quantities of domestically produced beef can reach processors and grocery stores.
That rebuilding process can also become more difficult when production costs are high or cattle producers are uncertain about future market conditions.
Trump said his administration is attempting to address both sides of the market by providing additional imported beef now while supporting the eventual recovery of the U.S. cattle herd.
“As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers,” Trump said, the temporary imports will provide additional ground-beef supplies for American families.
The 300,000-metric-ton tariff exemption therefore represents the administration’s largest short-term step cited to date to increase ground beef availability at a time when cattle supplies remain tight and consumers are paying historically high prices.
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