The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

Canada, Mexico, and Australia are the heavy hitters in beef imports to America...the rest of the countries are a small fraction of the total. A combination of robust demand, bad weather, high feed prices, and all of the other factors that make cattle ranching a tough business have conspired to shrink American cattle herds. Canada and Mexico probably had similar difficulties, and of course, Australia has problems of its own. That's the nature of ranching.

America consumes the most beef of any country in the world, and while that is a credit to us, our wealth, and our refined palates, it also exposes us to the greatest market pressures.

And as the basic laws of economics suggest, when supply shrinks, prices tend to go up when demand is consistent or rising, so there is...get this...pricing pressure to increase supply! I know, that's just crazy talk. It's not like cattle ranchers enjoy making money or anything. They are obviously in the business for altruistic reasons, and are more than willing to cut prices even though they have fewer head to sell, just so you and I can enjoy more good American corn-fed beef! I for one am very pleased that the immutable laws of economics have been repealed for the cattle industry, because beef is one of my favorite foods!

At least that is what President Trump is suggesting.

Trump says US cattle producers benefiting from tariffs, need to drop beef prices

President Donald Trump says U.S. cattle ranchers are benefiting from tariffs he has imposed on imports but must lower prices to encourage American consumers to buy their beef.

Trump earlier this week said the administration was considering importing Argentine beef as a means of lowering record-high consumer beef prices. The suggestion angered U.S. ranchers. U.S. farmers also recently lost out to Argentina on soybean sales to China.

"The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don't understand that the only reason they are doing so well, for the first time in decades, is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States, including a 50% Tariff on Brazil," Trump wrote in a post Wednesday, Oct. 22, on Truth Social. "They also have to get their prices down, because the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!"

Anyway, President Trump is mistaken that his bully pulpit is an appropriate use for demanding that American cattle ranchers do exactly the wrong thing to ease high beef prices. His suggestion is simply nonsense. The only way beef prices will come down (and every Econ 1 student knows this), is if those ranchers see the high prices and decide to raise more cattle. That's how economies work, and directives from the President smack of price controls, five-year-plans, central planning, and all sorts of interference by bureaucrats into the unimaginably complex decisions that run market economies.

If President Trump wants to help beef prices come down in America, he should streamline the bureaucratic roadblocks to cattle production and processing. Maybe end the ridiculous ethanol boondoggle so more of that corn can be fed to cattle. Maybe ease the Department of Agriculture's byzantine rules on slaughter. Maybe tell the EPA to back the f*ck off of farmers and cattle ranchers.

There is a lot he can do, but simply demanding that the beef industry cut their prices isn't one of them.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter]. If you folks who are on X/Twitter would follow us it would be much appreciated!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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