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The White House is putting a pause on two executive orders President Donald Trump was expected to sign Monday aimed at bringing down record beef prices and rebuilding the U.S. cattle herd, according to reports. The move would be the administration’s latest attempt to blunt grocery inflation ahead of November’s midterm elections.
One order would temporarily suspend the tariff-rate quota that applies higher tariffs once a set volume of beef imports is reached, allowing more beef into the U.S. at lower rates across all beef-exporting nations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The administration also plans to direct the Small Business Administration to expand loans for U.S. ranchers and to roll back rules on endangered wolf protections and cattle ear tag requirements, according to the Journal.
Ground beef averaged $6.75 per pound in January 2026, the highest on record, and the steepest annual beef inflation since Trump’s first term. The price is up nearly 16% over one year, based on the latest Federal Reserve and Labor Department data.
It is not clear when the orders might now be signed. Bloomberg reported that the White House is “now fine-tuning” potential language intended to mitigate any “temporary shortages” in the U.S. beef market.
The price surge is tied to a shrinking U.S. cattle herd, which has fallen to its lowest level since 1951. The decline follows years of drought across Texas, Oklahoma and the Great Plains, which forced ranchers to sell cows they could not feed. Supply is expected to keep tightening through 2026 and 2027 before any meaningful recovery, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, even as consumer demand has remained strong.
Trump began publicly focusing on beef prices last fall as record retail costs intersected with his broader messaging of a strong economy. In October 2025, he proposed a plan to increase Argentine beef imports, drawing pushback from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Republican senators from cattle-heavy states, including Nebraska’s Deb Fischer.
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