House Republican on Trump ground beef import plan: ‘Damage is done’

Rep. Troy Downing (R-Mont.) responded Tuesday to President Trump’s plan to pause tariffs on beef imports, saying “the damage is done.”

In an interview on NewsNation, host Leland Vittert asked Downing if GOP lawmakers are pressuring the president to reverse the decision.

“That’s already affected the market,” Downing said. “So really what we need to do is have, you know, serious conversations with the administration before making decisions like this.”

“I understand his motivations — but before doing this, make sure you’re talking to the stakeholders. Make sure you’re talking to us to understand what the unintended consequences are, especially on timing,” he continued.

The response concerns a plan by Trump to exempt 300,000 tons of product for ground beef from out-of-quota tariffs, a move intended to address Americans’ concerns about high food prices. The exemption arrives while the president has simultaneously threatened Canada with 50 percent tariffs on its goods.

Trump defended the 90-day suspension in an August Truth Social post , saying, “We have a commitment that this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices. This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again.”

The president notably did not say where the beef would be coming from.

Senate Republicans have already publicly criticized the exemptions, with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) calling it a “mistake.”

“If you think that providing subsidized beef for some period of time is going to make farmers happy and prices go down on a systemic basis, you’re wrong. It doesn’t happen,” Tillis said.

Tillis and Downing are two of several Republican lawmakers from agriculture-heavy states to warn against allowing cheap beef imports to flood the U.S. market over the next three months.

Downing added in his appearance that in Montana, “we’ve got about twice as many cows as people.”

“Our ranchers are producing the best beef in the world. … They need to have market stability,” Downing said. “You know, don’t move a market as my producers are going to market, and that’s our biggest issue there.”

Beef prices have been soaring across the country, with the average price of 100 percent ground beef per pound in the U.S. at roughly $6.89 — according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shared by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis .

Despite demand for the staple remaining high, Downing says, “We are at an all-time low or a historic low in the herd size.”

He cited “a number of reasons,” which can include droughts and lack of grazing lands — experts also include rising operational costs.