Trump Post on Cattle Industry is Incorrect

President Trump responded to criticism from American cattle producers regarding his proposal to import beef from Argentina as a strategy to reduce domestic beef prices. Chief Commodities analyst at Stone X, Arlan Suderman,

“I think he's reacting to the emotions he's feeling from the cattle industry for talking about increasing imports from Argentina, and that reaction is creating more problems now, first of all, when it comes to Argentina, Argentina doesn't have enough surplus beef to make much of a difference in the US market. I don't should be worrying too much about that,”

And if there is any surplus, Suderman says that China will most likely try to bid that away from the US. As for the social media post, he said it was incorrect.

“His post about how cattle ranchers need to lower the price for beef and that they're just experiencing good prices today because of his tariffs, that's pretty unfounded. First of all, we've had high cattle prices long before he applied tariffs, because we have a tight supply of cattle. We've got the lowest number of cattle the United States that we've had in 74 years. Demand, though, is very strong in the United States for beef, we've got a good product, and today's consumer wants protein in their diet.”

Suderman says that while the 50% tariffs on Brazilian beef are contributing to the higher prices in the US, that's just a piece of the puzzle. The main cause is lower cattle numbers and strong beef demand.