'Worse than socialism': Republicans hit back at Trump's beef price move

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump's push to lower beef prices by easing import tariffs drew sharp Republican criticism Friday, August 21, from Reps Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

They argued the move could undercut American cattle producers even as Trump said it would give the US herd room to grow.

Trump announced the plan Friday morning in a Truth Social post, with a formal executive order expected within two weeks.

Thomas Massie calls the move a slap

Massie, R-Ky, called the decision a “slap in the face to American cattlemen & consumers,” arguing cheaper imports could weaken incentives for US farmers to produce more beef.

“Worse than socialism! Dumping foreign beef in US markets can temporarily lower prices but it won’t incentivize American farmers to raise more beef,” Massie wrote on social media.

Trump said the administration will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to enter the United States without an “out-of-quota tariff” over the next 90 days. 

He also said the imported beef would be sold 25% below current market prices.

Massie also urged the administration to restore labels showing where imported products came from and backed his Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act, which would let states allow local slaughterhouses to process livestock.

Greene says foreign beef will undercut ranchers

Greene, R-Ga, separately accused the administration of making conditions harder for US beef producers.

“Now they will be undercut by foreign imported beef, as they have been hit financially by high cost of fertilizer and diesel from Trump’s war with Iran,” Greene wrote Friday. 

“The Trump admin's attempt to lower the cost of beef is American beef LAST and foreign beef FIRST,” she wrote.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association also opposed the move. 

CEO Colin Woodall said flooding the market with below-market beef would not rebuild the US cattle herd.

“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.

Sen Tim Sheehy, R-Mont, said he had advised Trump against the policy for a year, arguing it would make it harder for ranchers to rebuild the herd.

Beef prices remain under pressure

The dispute comes as the US cattle herd is historically small and consumer demand remains high. 

The average price of 100 percent ground beef was about $6.89 per pound in July, more than 10 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data shared by the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.

Trump said the plan would “reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation said in a May report that beef imports within quota generally face a 4.4-cent-per-kilogram tariff, while imports above quota face a 26.4% tariff.

Altin Kalo, head economist at Steiner Consulting Group, said the price effect remains uncertain because imported beef is already trading at a steep discount.

“The out-of-quota tariff has not been an issue for importers to this point as a record amount is being imported,” Kalo told CNBC.