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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – The Trump administration has temporarily paused tariffs on imported lean beef.
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That should bring 300,000 metric tons of imported beef into the U.S. over the next three months to be sold at a discounted price to consumers.
All of the beef at Dickman’s comes from the U.S., so its customers won’t see the discounted prices directly.
But if the imported beef is sold at a lower price, that price decrease should eventually trickle down to Dickman’s, according to the General Manager Tim L’Armee.
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“Cheaper is always better; it can definitely go down, that’s for sure,” L’Armee.
Most of the imported beef could come from Canada and be sold at a 25% discount of the current market price.
L’Armee said it should impact the service industry, like restaurants, the most, but said those prices could eventually go down for Dickman’s as well.
“We’ll just have to wait and see how the market reacts and how much is brought in and how much the consumers are purchasing it,” L’Armee said.
The move by the Trump administration comes as cattle herds are at their smallest in a while.
“The small herd in the U.S. that has been – what I was told – it’s the smallest in around 70 years or so,” L’Armee said.
Clay Parsons, a rancher at Marana Stockyards, agrees that his ranch, like many others across the U.S., is struggling with its herd this year.
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“For the American rancher who’s been through a drought, who’s been through low pricing – it’s why we do have a shortage at this time. Trying to rebuild the herd, this came at a terrible time,” Parsons said.
Parsons said imported beef selling at a lower price could lead, and already has led, to ranchers seeing lower income.
“It has devalued a 500-pound calf up to $400 a head. And a calf ready to go to market around $600, $700 per head,” Parsons said.
Parsons said the lower price isn’t worth it, as there’s uncertainty about what the pre-packaged imported beef is made up of.
“Imported beef, in my opinion, hasn’t been through as stringent testing as we do here in the United States. As far as the quality, it will not be as good. It’s lean beef; it’s for hamburger, and we don’t really know what’s in it,” Parsons said.
Parsons also said he was concerned about consumers not knowing whether they were buying imported or American beef when shopping at the grocery store.
In an executive order signed by Trump Thursday, he directed the USDA to review its authority to create mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef products.
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