Trump announces plan to lower beef prices, but ranchers and some Republicans are already balking

The useful part

President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration will allow more beef to be temporarily imported into the U.S. Trump remains under pressure to cut costs and address affordability issues ahead of November's midterms. Ranchers, normally some of the president's biggest supporters, are enjoying some rare profitable years and worry cheap beef imports will reduce cattle prices — and with it, the incentive to increase herd sizes.

How it works

• "We all want lower grocery prices, but as I've said for months, we cannot do it at the expense of American producers," Sen.
• "Flooding the market with foreign beef hurts our livestock industry and undermines the long-term solution: growing the U.S.
• They admit that we need a little help, and, in order to get the prices down, so that's what we're doing." Sen.
• Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., said in a social media post just hours after Trump announced the deal that the president's "heart is in the right place," but importing beef will "harm our ranching families who feed...

Details worth keeping

Beef prices have climbed to record highs amid a drop in the number of U.S. president has also imposed 50% tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., said that while he appreciates the administration's focus on grocery prices, "short-term policy shifts do not equal long-term solutions." The deal, Trump said, allows up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef to be imported into the U.S.