GOP senator has ‘deep concerns’ over Trump plan to import Argentine beef

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, says she has “deep concerns” over the Trump administration’s plan to import Argentine beef to bring prices down in the U.S. — something that has sparked an angry backlash from American ranchers.

“Since hearing the president’s comments suggesting the U.S. would buy beef from Argentina, I’ve been in touch with his administration and my colleagues to seek clarity and express my deep concerns,” Fischer wrote Tuesday in a social media post.

“Bottom line: if the goal is addressing beef prices at the grocery store, this isn’t the way,” she argued. “Right now, government intervention in the beef market will hurt our cattle ranchers.”

Fischer added that the U.S. has “safe, reliable beef” and warned “Nebraska’s ranchers cannot afford to have the rug pulled out from under them when they’re just getting ahead or simply breaking even.”

Trump floated the plan to import beef from Argentina on Monday, a few days after his administration announced plans to arrange a $20 billion currency swap with Argentina to prop up the peso and help embattled Argentine President Javier Milei ahead of a critical midterm election scheduled for Oct. 26.

Colin Woodall, the CEO of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, has warned the plan to import Argentine beef “only creates chaos at a critical time for American cattle producers” and would not lower grocery store prices.

Woodall in a statement said Argentina has a “deeply unbalanced trade relationship” with the U.S. as it has sold more than $801 million worth of beef to the nation over the past five years while American ranchers have sold only $7 million in beef to Argentina.

Fischer said in her statement Tuesday she’s “sounding the alarm on the bleak state of our ag economy.”

The Nebraska Republican also urged the Trump administration “to focus on trade deals that benefit our ag producers — not imports that will do more harm than good.”