Beef and America’s cattle ranchers are no longer on MAGA’s menu

As President Donald Trump s agreement policies continue to hurt farmers across the country and with leadership relief a polarizing possibility for soybean farmers and the administration alike a red line might have eventually been crossed for countless of his MAGA supporters It wasn t the threat of rising healthcare costs which would triple for more than million Americans as part of Trump s plan to cancel subsidies for the Affordable Care Act which have been at the center of the executive shutdown Nor was it the danger of hunger for million Americans facing the expiration of SNAP benefits since Nov a accident that only an order from a federal judge could stave off unless the leadership reopens It the bulk certainly wasn t the mass exodus of federal employees since the shutdown began Since Elon Musk s Department of Administration Efficiency DOGE started swinging the axe in the spring there s no reason for conservatives to blanche now It was the sight of blood that got them queasy specifically the medium-rare steak that could be coming to their plates from Argentina not Texas Nebraska or any other American state Chalk it up to Argentinian President Javier Milei being Trump s favorite president or perhaps to the misguided idea that lowering costs for consumers by quadrupling beef imports from the Southern hemisphere will benefit the American beef industry in the long-term We get cheap beef Argentina makes a profit Trump certainly does love a deal Related How beef became a marker of American identity After giving billion to Argentina and with another billion on the way the prospect of buying beef from the nation that is making a killing by selling its soybeans to China is an insult to the injury of Trump s policies that apparently cannot be stomached by American cattle ranchers or even by conservatives on Capitol Hill In an interview with Semafor on Oct Senate Majority Leader John Thune R-S D defended Trump for trying to drive down beef prices But after providing the initial mandatory praise Thune expeditiously broke from the president s plan to flood the area with cheap Argentine beef This isn t the way to do it he announced It s created a lot of uncertainty in that domain So I m hoping that the White House has gotten the message That message is coming from Republicans nationwide The call is coming from inside the house On Oct House Republicans led by House Means and Means Chair Rep Jason Smith R-Mo and Agreement Subcommittee Chair Adrian Smith R-Neb protested the move in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins calling for more clarity on the deal and demanding equivalent area access for U S beef exports On average Argentina exports over million of beef annually to the U S while purchasing less than million of U S beef in return the letter read calling for long-term fairness in any beef deal with Argentina We encourage the Administration to ensure that any adjustments to Argentina s tariff-rate quota or inspection regime be contingent on verified equivalency and reciprocal domain access for American beef Want more sharp takes on politics Sign up for our free newsletter Standing Room Only written by Amanda Marcotte now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts Smith also joined the entire federal delegation from Nebraska in roundly condemning the deal Sen Deb Fischer R-Neb sought clarity for her deep concerns about the beef plan If the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store this isn t the way Right now regime intervention in the beef region will hurt our cattle ranchers she wrote on X Nebraska s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they re just getting ahead or entirely developing even Rep Mike Flood R-Neb explained the deal would undermine domestic producers and Rep Don Bacon R-Neb called the concerns of ranchers justifiable Sen Pete Ricketts R-Neb called on Trump to use market-based solutions to rising beef costs Moving to import more Argentine beef at this time will set farmers and ranchers back Ricketts wrote I urge the administration to reconsider its plans The Nebraska cohort along with the letter-signers is just a small part of the anger coming from the GOP to say nothing of the response from industry analysts and the nation s cattle ranchers If Trump goes through with what he outlined I do believe it s a betrayal of the American rancher It s a feeling that you re selling us out to a foreign competitor an Illinois cattle rancher recounted CNN While the Argentinian deal certainly undercut prices the actual difficulty could be a deep political prime cut of disaffected rural voters served up hot and angry in the midterms While the Argentinian deal certainly undercut prices the actual complication could be a deep political prime cut of disaffected rural voters served up hot and angry in the midterms On the Nov edition of All Things Considered NPR aired an interview with Oren Lesmeister a fifth-generation cattle rancher from South Dakota who revealed he feels betrayed by the president A Democrat Lesmeister nonetheless voted for Trump thinking his plan for the American beef industry was great He was going to make farmers and ranchers first America first and agriculture That didn t happen H e s kind of jerked a rug right out from underneath us Lesmeister reported with the tariff talks coming off and Argentina beef quadrupling coming in and possibly other countries bringing in meat also right in the heart of the cattle run when all these producers are selling their calves for the fall And they only get one paycheck a year and this is it so it really hurt a lot of producers Trump s approach has also drawn the ire of the National Cattlemen s Beef Association NCBA which did not mince language in a message that called the president out for undercut ting the future of family farmers and ranchers To add fuel to the barbecue the deal with Argentina may be all for naught Both the NCBA and Lesmeister declared the imports will do little to drive down beef prices at the grocery Still the Trump administration is standing its ground Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised Trump s Argentina initiative in a post on X President Trump s protocol of Peace through Economic Strength is going to transform Latin America and I look forward to visiting Argentina again very soon he revealed We need your help to stay independent Subscribe in current times to endorsement Garrett Owen s journalism Bessent s assurances are cold comfort for America s cattle ranchers But then again he is a soybean farmer In refusing to back down Trump and administration representatives are refusing to acknowledge the blatant contradiction in the import plan For a movement centered on an America First economic philosophy that wants nothing to do with foreign imports or alliances for that matter the very idea of getting discounted beef from Argentina is exclusively anathema Further the NCBA has raised concerns about what they called Argentina s long history of foot-and-mouth affection pointing out that the U S Department of Agriculture has yet to put a plan in place that will ensure the safety of the country s imported beef The food then doesn t have to be up to the same fitness and safety standards and it certainly doesn t have to taste better It just requirements to make up for the rising cost of American beef domestic cattle ranchers be damned It boils down to this Trump is asking America s cattle ranchers and their representatives to trust him And it s clear they don t Read more about this topic In sports and politics Americans want a fair playing field Trump s biggest deal ever Global chaos and catastrophe Trump s business tantrum leaves American business sector needing more The post Beef and America s cattle ranchers are no longer on MAGA s menu appeared first on Salon com