A mysterious ploy by President Donald Trump to combat soaring prices of an American kitchen staple may very well cripple an entire industry, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) warned Tuesday during an appearance on Fox Business.
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Ground beef prices in the United States have continued to soar amid a severe cattle shortage exacerbated by a recent screwworm infestation that some critics have blamed on the Trump administration for axing screwworm monitoring programs, with some Americans ditching ground beef altogether. Trump’s solution, he announced recently, was to import 300,000 metric tons of ground beef from countries he refused to identify.
While a growing number of critics now believe the source of the mystery ground beef to be Argentina — a suspicion that’s disturbed onlookers — Massie argued that regardless of where the ground beef comes from, Trump’s plan was flawed at its core.
“We’ve been talking about why people are attracted to socialism: the beef market is a good example of ‘let capitalism work.’ When prices get high, yes, there is some pain, but that’s a signal to farmers that you need to start keeping your heifers; instead of turning them into beef, turn them into momma cows and then that’ll solve the problem,” Massie said.
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“I’m afraid that what the president did with the announcement of bringing in 300,000 metric tons of Argentin — er, beef from overseas is that he’s diddling with capitalism, and now the signal to farmers is it might not be profitable to keep your heifers and rebuild the herd.”
Instead, Massie pushed his bill to roll back federal health regulations regarding ranchers’ ability to sell directly to consumers, and condemned the 2015 repeal of mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef as a “slap in the face to cattlemen in the United States.”
Ground beef prices have increased dramatically over the past year, rising from an average of $6.25 a pound in July 2025 to $6.89 in July of this year, according to Fox Business. The average cost of a pound of ground beef in July 2023 was $5.10.
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