Trump just screwed the ranchers & farmers who voted for him
He's the first POTUS to use a 1995 law to expand US beef imports above WTO quotas
He's trying to help a failing rightwing Argentine leader buddy.
This move is not about & won't result in lower US beef prices...🧵1/
The US has had record-level beef imports for the past 3 years, and that hasn't reduced consumer prices.
The US still is the world's largest beef producer. But 4 corps now control 85% of US beef processing. (Was 35% in 1980.) The monopolists have power to set high prices. 2/
Importing $1B/100K tons of Argentine beef won't change the meatpacking monopolists' power to rig high consumer prices. But it will hurt the ranchers who packers have been squeezing. (Dairy farmers too. The EO says hamburger meat only aka old milk cows) 3/
whitehouse.gov/presidential-a…
The EO claims the US cattle herd is at a 75-year low from recent draught/wildfires. But the increased consolidation of beef processing has simply wiped out so many cow/calf beef ranches forced to accept below-production-cost prices from whatever one packer remained nearby. 4/
Instead of using existing authority to break monopolies screwing both US farmers & consumers aka fixing the US market problems causing the problem or even a 1st step by stopping Tyson's closure of a big Nebraska packing plant, the POTUS who hates imports is increasing them? 5/
Beef trade rules are complex. When WTO started, the US set an amount of beef it would import duty-free. Above that quota, beef was tariffed 26.4%. Past POTUSs have reallocated dutyfree quota to dif nations. This latest move increases the total amount of duty-free beef imports. 6/
That is why Trump-supporting ranchers were so upset when the plan to increase duty-free beef imports that this proclamation just implemented was first annnounced in October 2025. 7/
newrepublic.com/post/202135/do…
Trump increasing the beef import quota is different from the 11/14 EO cutting beef (& coffee, banana) tariffs
The Nov. EO just removed NEW Trump reciprocol tariffs. It didn't add new pain for farmers -- even if also not helping lower consumer prices 8/8
whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/20…
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