Argentine Cattle Imports and Psychology in the US Cattle Industry

President Donald Trump recently announced plans to import more Argentinian beef into the US in order to bring consumer prices down. However, Dr. Dave Newton, American Farm Bureau Federation, vice president of public policy and economic analysis, says the increased imports won't make a big difference when it comes to retail prices.

“Right now, Argentina, prior to this announcement, they had a tariff rate quota around 20,000 metric tons of fresh, frozen, or chilled beef that could be imported in the United States, and the administration is raising that to 80,000 metric tons. But the reality is, for 2025, we're already importing record amounts of beef Brazil is imported to the United States somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 to 260,000 metric tons of beef. So the reality is, no, this is not going to do a lot on the consumer side for the retail prices they face.”

Dr Newton explains how this plan is more about psychology.

“The psychological impact, I think, is far greater any ongoing efforts to potentially intervene in the cattle market that could reduce the economic opportunities for America's cattle producers at a time when they're thinking about making the investments in their herd to restock our pastures. That's the other side of this coin. That's the challenging aspect of it. It's not necessarily the beef from Argentina, but it's a psychological impact on America's cattle producers that we're trying to actively lower beef

prices.”

AFBF’s Dr. John Newton.