Is Argentina Beef the Answer to Lowering Beef Prices?

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. could purchase Argentinian beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers.

“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from Florida to Washington. “If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”

He emphasized its potential impact on reducing domestic beef prices while supporting Argentina’s struggling economy

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley told AgriTalk’s Chip Flory on AgriTalk Monday, “The president ought to keep his mouth shut about beef prices. Because it has a negative consequence for the cattle market.”

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) responded to Trump’s comments with concern that rewarding Argentina with this expanded access to the U.S. market harms American cattle producers while also interfering with the free market.

“NCBA’s family farmers and ranchers have numerous concerns with importing more Argentinian beef to lower prices for consumers. This plan only creates chaos at a critical time of the year for American cattle producers, while doing nothing to lower grocery store prices,” says Colin Woodall, NCBA CEO. “Additionally, Argentina has a deeply unbalanced trade relationship with the U.S. In the past five years Argentina has sold more than $801 million of beef into the U.S. market. By comparison, the U.S. has sold just over $7 million worth of American beef to Argentina. Argentina also has a history of foot-and-mouth disease, which if brought to the United States, could decimate our domestic livestock production.”

“Although beef prices have increased, consumer demand for beef remains strong because of the work American cattle producers have done to improve the quality and safety of U.S. beef,” says a press release from NCBA. “We call on President Trump and members of Congress to let the market work, rather than intervening in ways that do nothing but harm rural America.”

Peel’s Perspective

Oklahoma State University’s Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist, shares his perspective on importing Argentina beef.

“Argentina is the sixth largest beef producing country and the fifth largest beef exporting country, accounting for roughly 6% of global beef exports,” Peel explains. “Argentine beef production is about 27% of total U.S. production. In recent years, Argentine beef exports have been growing with the majority of beef exports going to China along with Israel, the E.U. and the U.S.”

Argentina is the ninth largest source of beef imports in the U.S., accounting for about 2.1% of total U.S. beef imports thus far in 2025. U.S. imports of Argentine beef have been growing in recent years (recovery in Argentina) and were up 41.7% year over year through July (the latest data available since the shutdown).

Peel says it’s not clear how much capacity to increase beef exports exists currently in Argentina. Domestic beef consumption in Argentina uses 70% to 75% of total beef production in the country.

“If, for example, the U.S. doubled imports over 2024 levels, it would likely mostly be at the expense of domestic consumption in Argentina or other export markets for Argentine beef,” Peel explains. “Such an increase in imports from Argentina would have a negligible impact on the total supply of beef in the U.S. market. In fact, if the U.S. took all of the projected 2025 Argentine beef exports (not likely), it would represent less than 2.5% of the total U.S. beef supply.”

The majority of Argentine beef imports are lean processing beef used for ground beef production. This beef is quite similar to beef imported from Brazil. Imports from Argentina are less than 10% of the imports from Brazil.

“Increasing imports from Argentina would have a very slight impact in offsetting the reduction in imports from Brazil expected because of the sharp increase in tariffs on Brazil,” Peel says.

The impacts on beef imports from Brazil are not evident in the import data for January through July.

“Record high cattle and beef prices are occurring despite record beef imports,” Peel summarizes.

Increased beef imports (mostly lean processing beef) partially offsets decreased nonfed beef production in the U.S., helping to moderate sharply higher ground beef prices and increasing use of fatty trimmings from U.S. fed cattle.

“Argentina is a relatively minor source of beef imports and potential increases would not significantly change the overall supply of beef in the U.S.,” Peel says. “In short, it does not appear that increasing beef imports from Argentina would have any significant impacts on U.S. beef prices. At most, it might have a very slight (and probably undetectable) impact of moderating expected future increases in U.S. ground beef prices.”

NFU Responds to Trump’s Comments

Following President Trump’s comments National Farmers Union (NFU) President Rob Larew reaffirmed the need to strengthen fairness and competition within the U.S. beef industry rather than rely on imported products in a press release.

“Lowering beef prices for consumers starts with restoring fairness in the marketplace, not by importing beef from Argentina and undercutting American ranchers,” Larew says. “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 recently bailed out Argentina with $40 billion in U.S. taxpayer-backed aid, and Argentina’s response was to strike new deals selling soybeans to China — deals that hurt American crop farmers. The last thing we need is to reward them by importing more of their beef.”

USCA Comments on Remarks

U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) President Justin Tupper also issued a statement.

“USCA commented on Friday regarding potential steps by the Administration to address beef prices, and we will reiterate our position today: 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.

“USCA supports affordable food prices for American families. But we do oppose policies or loopholes that manipulate the market to address a solution that will be solved through natural market behavior. This approach weakens our industry’s foundation and undermines 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. 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.”

Thoughts from Texas

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also responded to the possibility of importing beef from Argentina. “Instead of offshoring our beef production by buying Argentinian beef, which would increase our already substantial $50 billion agricultural trade deficit, we should consider importing breeding stock to increase our own U.S. beef production capacity. Other opportunities to consider include opening federal lands to grazing and offering tax incentives to increase U.S. beef production. That would encourage more breeding stock and increased herds,” he says. “All of these options would benefit both U.S. families and the American rancher, and I hope the White House will carefully consider them.”

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