‘I don’t want to say’: Trump announces a deal for 300,000 tons of cheap foreign ground beef, but he refuses to say which countries it will come from

President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has struck a deal to bring 300,000 metric tons of cheaper foreign ground beef into the United States. A reporter asked him, “On the beef deal, which countries did you make the deal with?” Trump responded, “I don’t want to say.”

In a Truth Social post earlier that day, Trump said that for the next 90 days the United States would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of imported product for ground beef without the usual out-of-quota tariff. He wrote, “We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices.” He stated the plan would “reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”

According to MediasTouch, Trump did not name the countries that would supply the beef or who made the commitment to sell it at that discount. The White House said an executive order to put the plan in place is expected within two weeks.

Cattle groups say extra foreign beef would hurt American ranchers as markets fall

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, described as the country’s largest cattle industry trade group, criticized the announcement right away. CEO Colin Woodall said, “Flooding the market with government-subsidized, below-market beef is not the way to rebuild the American cattle herd.”

The group said cattle markets had already turned sharply lower Friday morning following Trump’s announcement. Woodall stated, “Today’s announcement and other market interventions throw cold water on the prospect of herd expansion and sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging.” Cattle futures fell to eight-month lows following the announcement. Trump has also called for federal agencies to buy products made in America.

This was not the first time Trump has talked about bringing in more foreign beef. In October 2025, he said, “We would buy some beef from Argentina,” arguing it could lower prices.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association warned at that time that expanding Argentine access to the American market would “harm American cattlemen and women.” Two days after Trump announced plans to increase those imports, the group put out a statement headed “President Trump Undercuts America’s Cattle Producers.”

The organization warned that attempts to manipulate the market risked “damaging the livelihoods of American cattlemen and women, while doing little to impact the price consumers are paying at the grocery store.”

The United States Cattlemen’s Association said, “Expanding beef imports from Argentina would risk the very foundation of U.S. cattle production and the heart of rural America.” The group added, “U.S. producers will lose in any deal with Argentina.”

In February, Trump authorized an additional 80,000 metric tons of Argentine lean beef imports for 2026, split into four quarterly amounts. United States Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper said after that agreement, “U.S. cattle producers, and U.S. consumers, deserve to know where their beef comes from,” and called transparency over imports “non-negotiable.”

The new plan is nearly four times the size of that earlier Argentine increase and is set to happen in just 90 days. Trump has not said which countries would provide the beef this time. In other news, Belgium’s diamond community presented a diamond ring to Trump after a zero-tariff deal.