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IATP: Beef import plan a win for packers, not much else

The director of climate change and rural strategies with the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy says the Trump administration’s plan to import 300,000 metric tons of tariff-free beef is a win for the industry’s big four meat packers.

During a recent webinar, Ben Lilliston says it’ll cut packer expenses, but it’s likely to cost American ranchers hundreds of dollars per head and not do much for consumer prices.

“At a 25% discount.”  He says, “This is agriculture dumping, which means selling at below the cost of production, which is something IATP has written multiple reports about being enormously harming to the farmers and ranchers.”

He says the administration’s close ties with JBS, the largest beef producer in the country, are also telling.

“They were the biggest donor to the Trump inauguration.”  He says, “The CEO of JBS met with Trump two days before he announced the beef to come in tariff-free. There’s little question that this was likely the suggestion from JBS.”

Lilliston says it’s another example of consolidation hurting producers.

“Again, you’ve heard a lot of tough talk, but they haven’t taken any action yet,” he says.

Lilliston says four companies controlling 85% of the marketplace limits market access for producers, and stymies producer incentive to grow the historically small cattle herd.