UNITED States president Donald Trump has signalled his intention to bring down US beef prices in a bid to make groceries more affordable.

Speaking at a press conference over the weekend, the President claimed that grocery and oil prices were coming down. “The simplicity is that if you can get oil down, it is such a big category that nearly everything follows,” President Trump said.

However, he said the beef prices were still too high.

“We are working on beef, and I think we have a deal that is going to bring the price of beef down. That would be the one product that we would say is a little bit higher than we would want.”

Asked more about the plan by reporters onboard a flight from Florida to Washington, the President said the plan was to buy beef from Argentina.

“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” he was quoted in an AP News article. “If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”

US beef holding at record highs

US beef prices have continued to hit record highs this year, with the country still yet to rebuild from a drought-induced sell off in recent years. Compounding that impact is a ban on imports of feeder cattle from Mexico, due to an outbreak of New World Screwworm

According to US analyst Len Steiner, 90CL cow beef prices earlier this month reached 1145c/kg, Australian, which is up 206c on this time last year.

Perhaps one of the biggest impacts on US beef has been the additional 50pc tariff the country has put on Brazilian beef imports (on top of existing 23.6pc tariffs), which earlier this year exceeded Australia’s exports to the US for the first time in history.

The situation has paved the way for larger Australian beef exports to the US, which are shaping up to break records this year.

Trump’s press conference over the weekend drew plenty of speculation, including the prospect of relief on Brazilian tariffs or loosening restrictions on Mexican cattle.

Trump’s close relationship with Argentina

Late last week, President Trump announced he was going to swap US$20bn in exchange for Argentinian Pesos to help prop up the country’s deteriorating exchange rate.

The president is said to be a close ally of Argentinian president Javier Milei and the swap is contingent on Milei winning the election in the coming month.

Since taking office in December 2023, President Milei has been going through a process of removing protectionist barriers on beef exports.

The US Department of Agriculture projects that Argentinian beef exports will break records at 860,000t.

“A larger herd and abundant calf crops two to three years ago are expected to support a slightly higher cattle slaughter,” the USDA report said.

“China is expected to continue to be the top export destination for Argentina (measured in volume), but beef exports to the United States are forecast to remain strong given the import demand and Argentina’s current competitive prices. Domestic beef consumption is touching a record low as less expensive poultry and pork continue to gain on beef’s share.”