Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) says President Trump is making a mistake by calling for a significant increase in beef imports from Argentina to offset rising prices at American grocery stores.
Thune acknowledged in an interview with Semafor that Trump is trying to “drive down beef prices” to help American consumers, but he argued that flooding the U.S. market with foreign beef doesn’t make sense.
“This isn’t the way to do it,” Thune said. “It’s created a lot of uncertainty in that market. So I’m hoping that the White House has gotten the message.”
Thune’s comments represent a rare split with the president, who hosted Republican senators for lunch at the White House on Tuesday.
Thune’s home state is a major beef producer; beef production accounts for roughly 9 percent of its agricultural industry, according to South Dakota State University.
The beef industry accounts for more than 12,000 jobs created in the state across more than 13,000 farms, according to Ag United for South Dakota.
Other farm-state Republicans have raised concerns about Trump’s plans to significantly increase the beef import quota for Argentine beef.
Sen. Deb Fischer (Neb.), a Republican member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said Tuesday that she has “deep concerns” over the Trump administration’s import plan.
“Since hearing the president’s comments suggesting the U.S. would buy beef from Argentina, I’ve been in touch with his administration and my colleagues to seek clarity and express my deep concerns,” Fischer said in a social media post.
“Bottom line: if the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way. Right now, government intervention in the beef market will hurt our cattle ranchers,” she argued.
She argued the United States has “safe, reliable beef” and warned “Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even.”
Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jerry Moran (R-Kan) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) have said they will share their concerns over the import plan with the White House.
Argentina currently provides just 2 percent of U.S. beef imports and can ship up to 20,000 tons of beef to the United States at a low tariff rate, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Read: Read More