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State Sen. Bryan King of Green Forest is urging federal lawmakers not to support importing beef from foreign countries in response to higher beef prices in the U.S.
President Donald Trump has suggested importing beef from Argentina in an effort to lower consumer beef prices and a White House official said Thursday, Oct. 23, that the administration is quadrupling low-tariff imports of Argentine beef, according to Reuters.
The price of beef in the United States has reached a record high — $6.63 per pound for ground beef in August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In an Oct. 22 letter to U.S. Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas — chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee —King wrote that the idea of importing more Argentine beef “is neither beneficial nor a long-term solution.”
In his letter to Boozman, King cited factors such as drought and concerns about screwworms as contributing to the increased beef prices and also noted that “(t)he beef market is primarily controlled by three major packers, which influence prices and supply chains.”
“Increasing imports from Argentina would negatively impact American families and rural communities,” King wrote. “The federal government should prioritize supporting American farmers and ranchers rather than harming them.
“I oppose using American tax dollars to support the importation of Argentinian beef and urge you to do the same.”
“There are high prices now, but there are high inputs,” King said in a telephone interview Friday, Oct. 24. “We’ve suffered high inputs and lower prices for years. It’s just another thing in a long line of things that have happened that have hurt the farmers.”
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