US unveils plan to bolster beef output, raises Argentine quota

The Donald Trump administration released a plan to encourage ranching and boost domestic beef production, as it separately raised a quota for Argentine beef imports.

The package unveiled on the US Department of Agriculture website includes measures to make it easier for ranchers to graze cattle on federally owned land, increase insurance subsidies and slash costs for small processors.

The move – flagged earlier this week by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins – comes as the Trump administration faces backlash from rancher groups over a plan to import more beef from Argentina, and just hours after the president said ranchers need to cut the prices for cattle they sell.

The administration, seeking to ease a surge in domestic beef prices, is raising the tariff-rate quota for Argentine beef fourfold to 80,000 metric tons a year, a White House official said Wednesday. The news was reported earlier by Politico.

Cattle prices have soared to unprecedented levels this year amid a severe shortage, driving up the cost of beef to consumers while wiping out billions of dollars of profits for meatpackers. The issue has stood in the way of Trump’s promise to make groceries more affordable.

Trump’s vow earlier this week to boost beef shipments from Argentina was met with criticism from cattle producer groups, who said excessive imports are displacing domestic output.

The USDA’s plan on Wednesday includes steps to enforce labelling rules, ensuring that only meat from animals that have been born, raised and slaughtered in the US can be sold as US-made.