Trump Has a Beef With Tariffs

“One of the (many) problems with tariffs is that they lead to countless and arbitrary exceptions for political purposes. President Trump's latest came Friday as he announced plans to lift tariffs on beef imports for 90 days. You may notice that this covers the three months through the November midterm elections.

 

In a social-media post, Mr. Trump blamed Joe Biden for high beef prices and added: "As we work to rebuild this herd and help our ranchers, for the next 90 days, the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of product for ground beef to be imported with no out of quota tariff." He pledged that the imports will be sold at 25% below "current market prices," which was about $6.89 a pound in July, up substantially in the last two years.

 

It's nice that Mr. Trump is giving American consumers this reprieve, at least through the election. He knows he and Republicans are being blamed for higher prices. The break on imported beef is supposed to show he's doing something about it, even if he is resorting to price controls on imports in the process.

 

The President said last year he had lifted tariffs on beef imports, and in February he allowed some 80,000 more metric tons of beef from Argentina. Clearly he understands the politics of tariffs and beef prices.

 

But he still won't admit that these concessions to political reality are a tacit admission that his tariffs have failed economically and politically. The public is unhappy about higher prices and voters understandably think Mr. Trump's ballyhooed tariffs are partly to blame.

 

The tariffs have become a political albatross for the GOP, and they have let Democrats recover from presiding over the Biden inflation that so hurt them in 2024. Democrats in Iowa of all places could pick up the Governorship, a Senate seat and two House seats this year owing to the damage tariffs have done to the farm economy.

 

Despite his claims that tariffs are a miracle economic cure, Mr. Trump has allowed exceptions for imported consumer electronics, smartphones, coffee, bananas, copper, chemicals, flat-panel TVs, memory chips, fertilizer, and hundreds of other products.

 

Have a good lobbyist, will travel in Washington. Mr. Trump may treasure the political leverage all of this provides him, but he and his party may pay a price this November for raising prices for millions of consumers.” [1]

 

1. Trump Has a Beef With Tariffs. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 22 Aug 2026: A12.