Trump undermines American ranchers, rushes to import Argentine beef
For years, Donald Trump has built his brand on an “America First” trade agenda: protecting American workers, punishing foreign competitors, and reshoring supply chains.
This was the promise. But now, in a scramble to lower grocery prices, his administration is turning to Argentina to buy beef — quadrupling imports to 80,000 metric tons. This is not an “America First” slogan. This is foreign beef by American ranchers.
Trump has spent the past month criticizing grocery prices and pledging relief at the checkout aisle, promising a “deal” to “get prices down.” His short-term solution is a foreign offer, even if it is in direct conflict with the program that got him elected. Ranchers, who have benefited from high demand and high beef prices, watch their president undermine them to save another country’s economy.
The timing is not accurate. The average price of ground beef is $6.32 per pound, up about 14 percent since Trump took office, and meat remains one of the biggest drivers of overall grocery price inflation, Politico reported.
The pressures are real, but political choice tells the story. When his campaign promise collides with the ruling reality, Trump chooses imports over the American producers he once defended.
Even Republicans say the quiet part out loud. Deb Fischer, a Republican senator from Nebraska, recently said: “If the goal is to address beef prices in the grocery store, that is not the way to go.”
It’s not just sticker shock. It’s the injury. Farm groups have supported Trump through tariffs, trade wars and retaliation against China because the message has always been at stake and America wins in the long run. Now they are watching the rules of the game upend overnight.
The move also comes on the heels of a convenient bilateral moment — Argentine President Javier Miley was recently having dinner at the White House with Trump, and the next thing you know there’s a $20 billion rescue package that critics say is more about rescuing Argentina than defending American producers. And this is where hypocrisy hits hardest: lecturing China for undermining American farmers, then returning and giving Argentina a runway to do the same.
Naturally, the farm owners are shocked. Even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said: “I have no idea who is telling our great president, America First’s president, that this is a good idea. It’s frankly a punch in the gut to all American ranchers. They’re angry, and rightly so.”
This is not a subtle policy shift. It’s the opposite. If the slogan “America First” now includes importing cheap beef to pressure US ranchers on prices, then this slogan loses its meaning. When the administration tries to portray it as consumer relief, it ignores the fact that America’s heartland pays the bill twice: once at the farm gate and again at the grocery store.
In the end, working families do not feel the theory of trade, but rather the totals on the receipts. A policy built on contradiction will not translate into affordability. It puts cost and confusion back into the American corridor.
Lindsay Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of the commentary show “Rising” on The Hill. This column is an edited version for on-air commentary.
