:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2226529550-cfbeda81966946ba9d15a3080dfbd776.jpg "What’s Really Driving Higher Meat Prices?")
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Key Takeaways
- Beef prices are up nearly 15% year-over-year, as top U.S. beef importers from Australia, New Zealand and Brazil face higher tariffs.
- Beef producers say the problem is bigger than tariffs; the U.S. cattle herd is at its smallest level in 75 years, and ranchers face higher costs.
- The Trump administration has raised tariff quotas on Argentine beef imports in an effort to help stem the price hikes.
Move over eggs: Soaring beef prices are the latest talking point when it comes to expensive groceries.
As food prices surge, President Donald Trump moved on Friday to reduce tariffs on a number of agricultural products, including beef.
Why This Matters to You
Beef is an important staple in the American diet and higher prices can put strains on Americans’ grocery costs, which have continued to rise as tariff costs have impacted prices.
Indeed, prices for beef have climbed substantially over the past year. Inflation data from September showed that beef was almost 15% more expensive when compared with the same month last year.
Tariffs on imported beef, along with import taxes on imported fertilizers and metals used by domestic ranchers, have contributed to higher beef costs, though experts said other factors are also helping push U.S. meat prices higher.
Beef Importers And Tariffs
The U.S. is the world’s largest beef producer, but it’s also the world’s biggest beef importer, according to the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association. And while tariffs on imported beef are impacting prices, U.S. ranchers pointed to larger issues contributing to the rise in beef prices.
“Today’s beef prices are not the byproduct of runaway inflation or market manipulation—they are the result of years of industry contraction, a 75-year low in the national cow herd, and steep increases in ranchers’ input costs,” the Cattlemen’s Association wrote to Trump in a letter that opposed a proposal to increase Argentinian beef imports.
Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, and New Zealand are the leading beef importers to the U.S., according to the Cattlemen’s Association.
The Trump administration had slapped a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports, which were likely contributing to higher beef import prices, while Australia had faced a 10% tariff that included U.S. beef exports and New Zealand was hit with a 15% tariff. These were all rolled back by Trump’s executive order on Friday.
The higher tariffs Trump applied to Canadian and Mexican imports didn’t include beef, which is covered under the USMCA trade agreement.
Higher beef prices have come alongside rising costs for other grocery store staples, including a 19% increase in coffee prices and a 7% rise in banana prices. Meanwhile, the price of eggs has fallen by 1.5% year-over-year after the cost of that grocery item became a campaign issue.
