DTN Ag Policy Blog

The U.S. would have to become the largest buyer of Argentine beef to put a dent in beef prices paid by American consumers.

Make no mistake, the U.S. is already importing a lot of beef -- more than at any time on record -- but Argentina currently accounts for just under 2.2% of total U.S. beef and veal imports.

President Donald Trump has become focused on lowering beef prices for consumers. There have been multiple suggestions over the past few months on how to do that. Early on, it was suggested USDA create some sort of herd retention program. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had to come out and say there would be no direct payments to cattle producers for heifer retention.

Since last week, Trump has suggested the country would lower beef prices by importing more beef from Argentina.

Aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Associated Press reported, "We would buy some beef from Argentina. If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down."

There is a lot to say about using beef from a country receiving a $20 billion bailout to lower consumer beef prices -- along with prices for cattle producers.

Statistically speaking, though, the numbers just don't bear out the prospect that Argentinian beef will be a driver to lower prices for American consumers.

All of this also comes after the Trump administration had pressed for countries such as England and Japan to open their markets to buy more U.S. beef.

HOW MUCH DOES ARGENTINA EXPORT TO THE U.S.?

Both the U.S. and Argentina would have to make a massive shift in sales, shipping and infrastructure for Argentina to dramatically increase sales to the U.S.

USDA's Economic Research Service puts Argentina's "beef and veal" exports to the U.S. at 98.9 million pounds in 2024.

The Consortium of Argentine Meat Exporters reported earlier this year that the country exported 34,800 metric tons (nearly 77 million pounds) of beef to the U.S. in 2024, up nearly 46% from a year earlier. China, Europe and Isreal are the only three countries that imported more Argentine beef than the U.S., but the U.S. still only accounts for less than 5% of Argentina's total beef exports. Just under 75% of Argentina's beef exports to go to China.

All told, Argentina's total beef exports last year were about 769,000 metric tons, or about 1.7 billion pounds.

US BEEF IMPORTS ARE ALREADY SURGING

The U.S. imported a whooping 4.6 billion pounds of beef and veal last year, up nearly 37% from just two years earlier, according to USDA figures.

Argentina is the eighth-largest exporter of beef and veal to the U.S. Canada and Australia each exported more than 1 billion pounds of product to the U.S. in 2024, followed by Brazil (690 million pounds), Mexico (597 million pounds), New Zealand (559 million pounds), Uruguay (310 million pounds), Nicaragua (155 million pounds) and finally Argentina.

Those eight countries accounted for 97% of all beef shipped to the U.S. last year and also this year.

While imports rose to 4.6 billion pounds, the U.S. also exported 3 billion pounds in 2024. So, the U.S. beef trade actually had a deficit of 1.6 billion pounds last year. In 2022, the U.S. beef trade had a slight trade surplus. The U.S. imported just under 3.4 billion pounds of beef and veal while exporting 3.5 billion pounds.

This year, U.S. beef imports were up 30% through July, topping 3.4 billion pounds in just the first seven months of the year. By comparison, from 2020-2022, U.S. beef imports never topped 3.4 billion annually.

While beef imports have reached new highs, U.S. beef exports through July were 1.6 billion pounds, meaning the U.S. imported almost twice as much beef in the first seven months of 2025 than the country's producers exported.

Brazil was one of the main drivers of the import surge before President Trump placed a 50% tariff on Brazilian products. (As of now, no new data has come out to reflect whether the 50% tariff on Brazil has slowed down beef sales.) Through July, Brazilian packers had already shipped more than 810 million pounds of beef to the U.S., -- about 220 million more pounds of beef than Brazil shipped in all of 2024, which was a record.

It should also be U.S. consumers eat 28.6 billion pounds of beef annually. Imported beef fills about 15-16% of demand.

LIVE CATTLE IMPORTS DOWN

One factor that could be driving up beef imports is that live cattle imports are down due to New World screwworm restrictions on Mexico. The U.S. imported 1.2 million head from Mexico in both 2023 and 2024, but that number has fallen to 229,000 head in 2025 -- through July. Live cattle imports from Canada are down slightly from a year ago as well.

CATTLE PRODUCER GROUPS WEIGH IN

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) called on President Trump and members of Congress "to let the market work, rather than intervening in ways that do nothing but harm rural America."

Colin Woodall, NCBA's CEO, said farmers and ranchers are concerned about rewarding Argentina with expanded beef access, which would harm markets for U.S. cattle producers.

"This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices," Woodall said.

Woodall noted Argentina has exported $801 million to beef over the past five years while importing just $7 million in U.S. beef over that time. Argentina also has a history of foot-and-mouth disease.

Bill Bullard, CEO of R-CALF USA, acknowledged beef prices are higher than what should be expected in a "competitive market." Bullard blamed a "failure to manage excessive imports" along with "unprecedented industry consolidation" that have caused bee prices to increase more than cattle prices.

"As beef prices increased, our cattle herd shrank because increasing volumes of imports displaced the need for domestic cattle. Then along came a drought that accelerated the ongoing decline of our domestic herd, converting our industry's chronic problem into today's acute problem.

Bullard also plugged the need for mandatory country-of-origin labeling to return for packers, citing that the U.S. is buying beef from 20 different countries.

"The president should immediately require mandatory country-of-origin labels on beef so American consumers can choose to help rebuild and expand our nation's contracted cattle herd," Bullard said.

Bullard also called for the Justice Department to focus more attention on antitrust issues and the price-fixing cases now in the courts.

"We urge the president to manage imports, restore mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and put an end to the monopolistic control that packers and retailers have over our beef supply chain. Doing so will incentivize America's ranchers to rebuild and expand the U.S. herd to meet our national security needs and ensure that consumer beef prices are determined by competitive market forces."

United States Cattlemen's Association (USCA) President Justin Tupper reiterated on Monday that government intervention is not needed in an industry that is already correcting in response to years of market pressure.

"Today's comments alone triggered an immediate reaction in the markets--cattle futures dropped significantly. It's important to underscore: the current price of beef on grocery store shelves reflects the true, inflation-adjusted cost of raising cattle in America today," Tupper said.

Already this year, the U.S. has imported more than 1.26 million metric tons of beef, primarily from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and New Zealand, Tupper said. "Increasing imports under current rules ultimately benefits foreign suppliers and multinational packers, while putting U.S. ranchers on the losing end and depriving American consumers of honest transparency at the meat counter.

Tupper added that USCA supports affordable food prices for American families, but the group opposes policies that could lead to market manipulation and weaken the cattle industry in rural America.

"We have appreciated President Trump's 'America First' priorities, which have consistently highlighted the importance of supporting U.S. producers and reinforcing national food security," Tupper said. "This moment presents an excellent opportunity to show genuine American-first leadership by prioritizing strong domestic production, and fair, transparent markets for both ranchers and consumers."

Rob Larew, president of the National Farmers Union, said there should be more attention on fairness and competition within the beef industry rather than increasing reliance on imports.

"Lowering beef prices for consumers starts with restoring fairness in the marketplace, not by importing beef from Argentina and undercutting American ranchers," Larew said. "Years of drought, depressed cattle prices, and unchecked corporate consolidation have already pushed many family farmers and ranchers to the brink, all while consumers pay more at the grocery store."

The White House bailed out Argentina, allowing Argentina to strike new deals to sell more soybeans to China. "The last thing we need is to reward them by importing more of their beef," Larew said.

Larew added, "In times of extreme uncertainty in the farm economy, we should be doubling down on our efforts to support family farmers and ranchers here at home. The answer isn't foreign beef; it's rebuilding herds to meet domestic demand, restoring competition in meatpacking, enacting mandatory country-of-origin labeling so consumers know where their beef comes from, and creating a fair marketplace that works for both farmers and consumers."

Also see, "Beef Producers, It's Time to Speak Up," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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