President Trump has announced he’ll allow countries to import more beef into the U.S. without triggering a higher tariff for the next 90 days, a decision that has drawn a strong reaction from Iowa cattle producers.
Trump announced on his “Truth Social” platform that he’s negotiated a deal that will see 300,000 metric tons of imported beef to be sold at a 25% discount, to make ground beef more affordable for consumers. The groups that represent cattlemen say the U.S. is already importing beef at record levels, plus many farmers are selling feeder cattle now and Trump’s decision is pushing sale prices down in the midst of a two-month dip in the cattle market.
Iowa Cattlemen’s Association CEO Bryan Whaley said Trump should let the market work and avoid government intervention. “Even if it’s ground beef, it’s still beef that’s coming in from a foreign product,” Whaley said in an interview with Brownfield Ag News. “It will have a significant impact to our producers and the money they make.”
Iowa elected officials and candidates are raising concerns. Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, the Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. Senate, said increasing beef imports is “a bad idea” that will make the cattle market unstable and she plans to talk to the Trump Administration about the move. “The herd is at a 70 year low and we need to support our Iowa cattlement in what they do,” Hinson told reporters during a visit at the Iowa Pork Producers’ grill at the State Fair. “…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.”
Josh Turek, the Democrat running against Hinson, posted a statement on X, calling Trump’s announcement “just one more gut punch to farmers” who are “already dealing with tariffs that wrecked commodity markets.”
Chris Jones, the Democrat running for State Agriculture Secretary, said importing more beef to lower prices at the grocery store is “a band-aid” rather than a long-term solution to rebuild cattle herds. “High demand creates better profitability for cattle production,” Jones told reporters after a speech at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the State Fair. “So why is the president kicking farmers in the gut with this 660 million pounds of hamburger that’s only going to be around for 90 days?” Mike Naig, the Republican who’s seeking re-election as Iowa Ag Secretary, said in a post on X that “we need need affordable food, but not at the expense of cattle producers” and Naig said he shared his concerns about foreign beef imports with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins during her visit to the Iowa State Fair.
Rollins held a news conference Friday night outside the cattle barn on the fairgrounds and said she had heard from some of the “cattle guys” and ranchers standing behind her, but she indicated Trump’s announcement was not “unexpected because I think the president has been talking about it for a long time, but it did come at a time where I think a lot of people weren’t prepared for it.”
Rollins said Trump’s move will address both the tight supply of beef — made worse by closing the southern border to a million Mexican cattle due to fears about a flesh-eating parasite called the New World Screwworm — and high consumer prices. “The importance of families to be able to put really good food on the table…at a good value is a top priority for President Trump,” Rollins said, “and it has been for a really long time.”
Rollins indicated the administration’s trade representative is working on the details of an executive order President Trump will issue “in the next few weeks” with the details about the plan to import beef trimmings that are made into ground beef.
