President Donald Trump announced Friday he was suspending tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef to help lower the cost of the meat, in a move cattle producers said would not help their efforts to restore herd sizes.

The president made the announcement in a Truth Social post where he said the imported beef will be sold at 25% below the current market prices.

“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” Trump wrote in the post.

Image

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall said “flooding” the market with “government-subsidized, below-market beef” would not help producers to “rebuild the American cattle herd,” which continues to decline.

According to the most recent cattle report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the nation’s herd size is “up slightly” from where it sat in July 2025. Even with the slight increase from the year prior, the cattle and calves inventory – at 94.2 million head – is at about the same level it was in the 1950s.

Iowa Cattlemen’s Association President Craig Moss said the association was “extremely disappointed” by Trump’s announcement and said it has already “created unnecessary market volatility.”

Cattle market reports from Friday showed “crashing futures” because of the Trump announcement.

Image

“The drop in the markets will directly impact their profitability and bottom line, and in turn impacts decisions our producers are making about expanding their cattle herds,” Moss said in a statement. “We believe the government should avoid intervention and let the market work.”

At the same time, the price of ground beef has been on a steep increase since around 2023, which was the last time a pound of ground chuck was below $5 per pound. The price, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has not dropped below $6 per pound since April 2025.

In his Truth Social post, the president blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for the hike in prices, claiming beef prices “soared at their fastest rate” under the Democratic president. Consumer Price Index data shows ground chuck rose from $4.31 in January 2021 when Biden took office, to $5.58 in December 2024. Prices have risen to $6.85 in the year and a half Trump has been in the office.

Moss said consumer demand for “high-quality beef raised by U.S. producers has remained strong” and argued that consumers have been “willing to pay for beef.”

Hinson sides with beef producers

U.S. Representative Ashley Hinson, speaking with reporters at the Iowa State Fair Friday, said Trump’s recent decision to increase beef imports was a “bad idea.”

“We grow the highest quality beef here in Iowa, and so absolutely, I’ll be advocating to the administration because I think we need to be focusing on growing the herd the right way and protecting our cattlemen,” Hinson said.

Hinson is running for U.S. Senate against Democrat Josh Turek, who has been critical of past efforts to import beef and has called for mandatory country of origin labeling to support U.S. beef producers.

This is not the first time Trump has acted to lower consumer beef prices in a way that has upset cattle producers. In February the president announced a deal with Argentina to import an additional 80,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings with a goal of lowering consumer prices.

Image

Moss said the Friday announcement pausing quota tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of ground beef imports, was “another hit” for cattle feeders who learned August 13 that a major Tyson beef facility in Illinois would close.

Woodall with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said this time of year is a “critical” time for producers as they make decisions about herd sizes.

“Cattle farmers and ranchers are responding to strong market signals and historically high demand, and we are already working to rebuild after years of ongoing drought, high input costs and other challenges that have reduced U.S. cattle numbers,” Woodall said. “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.”