Trump’s Argentina beef import plan worries ranching industry
“If we buy beef now — I’m not talking about that many things — from Argentina, that would help Argentina, which we consider to be a very good country, a very good ally,” Trump said Sunday.
Asked on Air Force One whether a beef deal would benefit foreign ranchers at the expense of American ranchers, Trump did not respond directly.
“Argentina is fighting for its life,” he said. “Nothing benefits Argentina.”
Woodall, of the beef association, said any attempt by the Trump administration to interfere with market forces in the beef industry would “hurt rural America.”
“Argentina has a deeply unbalanced trade relationship with the United States,” he said in the statement, asserting that $801 million worth of Argentine beef has been sold in the U.S. market since 2020. In comparison, U.S. farmers sold just $7 million worth of beef to Argentina during the same period.
“Argentina also has a history of foot-and-mouth disease,” Woodall said, “which, if introduced into the United States, could decimate our domestic livestock production.”
A spokesperson for the Argentine Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Woodall’s statement.
The Trump administration has gone to extraordinary lengths to help Argentina and its embattled President, Javier Milei, an early Trump ally whose party faces crucial midterm elections this month.
“I happen to like the president of Argentina. I think he’s trying to do his best,” Trump said Sunday. “And if we buy beef – here, I’m not talking about much – from Argentina, that would help Argentina, which we consider to be a very good country.”
In recent weeks, the Treasury Department announced plans to arrange $40 billion in currency swaps, loans and other financial aid for Buenos Aires to strengthen Milei’s administration.
The libertarian Milei pushed through an unprecedented privatization program, combined with severe austerity measures and cuts to the civil service. But his efforts failed with voters, causing a run on the Argentine peso.
A White House representative did not respond to a request for comment on the beef proposal.
Trump’s support for Milei has already faced criticism from another sector of the U.S. agricultural industry: soybean farmers.
Shortly before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced an initial $20 billion in U.S. support for Argentina, Buenos Aires announced it would suspend its export taxes. In just a few days, China bought 7 million tons of soybeans from Argentina.
Meanwhile, China imported no soybeans from U.S. farmers in September. It was the first time China effectively embargoed U.S. soybeans since November 2018, the last time Beijing sparred with the Trump administration.
