Trump: Argentina can help lower US meat prices

With beef prices soaring, President Donald Trump is considering an idea that is at odds with his usual mantra that nearly everything should be made in the United States.

- ALAN RAPPEPORT

Cows eat alfalfa on a farm in Newton, Utah. Droughts across the United States have forced ranchers to shrink their cattle herds, causing beef prices to rise. NYT

Trump, who has imposed tariffs on nearly everything that America imports, said that he was considering buying beef from Argentina to bolster supplies and curb rising prices. The idea contradicts Trump's guiding economic philosophy of erecting import barriers to encourage domestic production. It also suggests that the president believes that in some cases, open markets can be an antidote to rising prices.

“We would buy some beef from Argentina,’ Trump said to reporters aboard Air Force One on Oct 12. “If we do that, that would bring our beef prices down”

Ground beef prices in the United States have increased by about 15% this year, to a record high of nearly $7 per pound (about 230 baht per 454 grams). The spike in prices stems from several factors, including hotter weather and the tariffs that Trump has imposed on key trading partners.

Droughts across parts of the country have forced ranchers to shrink their cattle herds, causing beef prices to increase along with demand for red meat. And beef imports from some countries such as Brazil have started to fall because of steep tariffs on their exports to the United States.