President Trump announces a deal to ‘lower the price of ground beef’ for Americans
On Friday, the president announced a deal that will purportedly lower prices on domestic beef for the next 90 days.
by Summer Lane | August 21, 2026
President Donald Trump announced on Friday a new deal that he said will “substantially lower the price of ground beef for working American families.”
“As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff,” President Trump said in a statement posted to social media.
The president said that the prices of beef “soared at their fastest rate” under the previous leadership of Joe Biden.
For the next 90 days, the president noted that his administration had secured a commitment that the beef that will be imported will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” he said.
According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the demand for meat in the U.S. has continued to grow as the cost of beef, pork, and chicken simultaneously climbs. Their data, shared in late May, cited USDA information about the average retail price of beef, which spiked to $9.64 per pound in April. That represents a 13 percent increase from the previous year, as well as the smallest U.S. cattle herd in 75 years, according to USDA data.
Outgoing Republican Congressman Thomas Massie (Ky.) argued that the president’s deal to import beef was a net negative for the U.S. economy.
“…Dumping foreign beef in U.S. markets can temporarily lower prices but it won’t incentivize American farmers to raise more beef,” Massie said on X. “Bring back Country Of Origin Labels & pass my PRIME Act.”
The PRIME Act (Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption Act) would allow farmers to localize meat production by implementing a pilot program that bypasses some harsh requirements related to USDA facility inspections, which Massie has argued are overly burdensome.
The president’s deal this week will allow a greater volume of beef to come into the U.S. and bypass the out-of-quota tariffs. It will likely provide short-term market relief up until the midterm elections in November.
Photo: Adobe Stock
