President Trump undercuts America’s cattle producers

In a misguided effort to lower the price of beef in grocery stores, President Donald J. Trump said he plans to increase the volume of beef imported from Argentina. Industry leaders say efforts to manipulate markets only risk damaging the livelihoods of American cattlemen and women while doing little to affect what consumers pay at the grocery store.

“The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its members cannot stand behind the President while he undercuts the future of family farmers and ranchers by importing Argentinian beef in an attempt to influence prices,” said NCBA CEO Colin Woodall. “It is imperative that President Trump and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins let the cattle markets work.”

The United States already faces a deep trade imbalance with Argentina — one that would be made worse by the President’s plan. Over the past five years, Argentina has shipped beef valued at more than $800 million to the U.S. while purchasing only $7 million of U.S. beef. Argentina also has a long history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), and USDA has not completed the necessary steps to ensure that the country can guarantee the safety of products being shipped here, further endangering America’s cattle herd.

“If President Trump is truly an ally of America’s cattle producers, we call on him to abandon this effort to manipulate markets and instead focus on the promised New World Screwworm facilities in Texas; make additional investments to protect the domestic cattle herd from foreign animal diseases such as FMD; and address regulatory burdens, including delisting the gray wolf and addressing the scourge of black vultures,” Woodall said.

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