Overview
- The administration confirmed it will quadruple Argentina’s low-tariff beef quota to roughly 80,000 metric tons in an effort to ease record U.S. grocery costs.
- Rancher groups and GOP lawmakers, including Senate leaders and the House Ways and Means chair, warn the move would undercut U.S. producers and call it the wrong fix for high prices.
- Vice President JD Vance was pressed in a closed-door Senate GOP lunch as senators reported rancher anger and questioned why the policy was chosen over domestic-market remedies.
- Cattle markets have seen notable declines since the announcement, squeezing producer incomes, even as retail beef prices remain elevated due to drought, high input costs and a historically small U.S. herd.
- The USDA rolled out parallel support measures to expand grazing access and rebuild herds, while critics also point to a recent $20 billion U.S. financial lifeline to Argentina as intensifying political backlash.