President Donald Trump on Friday morning said the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported over the next three months without being subject to out-of-quota tariffs.
Trump also said, “We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.”
The president’s Truth Social post announcing the move did not say which companies had made those commitments, which he said came “as we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers.”
Trump did not say who he had reached a deal with on the import waivers, or which importers have committed to selling ground beef at below-market prices as a result of the tariff relief.
CNBC has requested comment from White House and major U.S. beef suppliers about Trump’s announcement.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association criticized the move, saying it would not address Trump’s stated intention of helping to increase the size of the U.S. beef herd.
The U.S. imposes tariffs on imported beef beyond a certain quota limit for individual countries.
A report in May from the American Farm Bureau Federation noted that “imports entering under quota generally face a tariff of just 4.4 cents per kilogram, while imports above quota face a 26.4% tariff.”
“For beef valued around $7 per kilogram, that difference can exceed $1.80 per kilogram in tariff costs,” the report said.
Beef prices in the U.S have soared in 2026 due to a reduction in the nation’s cattle herd from years of drought, high feed costs and herd liquidation.
Trump’s post comes as his fellow Republicans fear that Americans’ concerns about the affordability of everyday products such as food could lead to losses for GOP candidates in congressional elections in November.
“Today, I concluded a deal to substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families,” Trump said in his post.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he said.
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall, in a statement, said his group “is disappointed by the President’s statement.”
“While America’s cattle producers share the goal of keeping groceries affordable for consumers, flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd,” Woodall said. “Cattle markets have already turned sharply lower this morning, to the detriment of farmers and ranchers.”
“Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging,” Woodall said.
Altin Kalo, head economist at Steiner Consulting Group, said the potential impact on prices remains to be seen.
“Imported beef already is trading at a steep discount,” Kalo told CNBC.
“The out-of-quota tariff has not been an issue for importers to this point as a record amount is being imported,” he said.
Kalo said that many grocery stores use only fresh ground beef in the meat case.
But almost all beef that is meant to be used for grinding beef, which comes from Australia or Brazil, is frozen, and a large portion of that goes to food service operations, mostly fast food companies.
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