Against a backdrop of international tariffs, including significant agricultural import taxes, America is facing a beef deficit. While the country had been a net exporter of beef as recently as 2022, a national cattle shortfall in the last few years has seen the US become more reliant on imports to contain beef prices, as outlined in a recent Economist article.

According to historical data from the Department of Agriculture, beef and veal imports to the US by carcass weight have increased by more than a third (37%) in the last two years, reaching a total of 4.6 billion pounds last year. Meanwhile, US beef exports have fallen 15% over the same period. With countries like China already halting beef imports from the US and calling on major exporters like Australia to fill in the gaps, the deficit might only widen.