The Trump administration is hoping mandatory country-of-origin labeling will help alleviate its beef problem.
Ranchers are upset over President Donald Trump’s plan to import more than 660 million pounds of lean beef trimmings, which are mixed with fat trimmings to make ground beef, under reduced tariffs. Greater competition with foreign beef would lower the price they receive for their own cattle.
The administration wants to give shoppers a choice while trying to assuage ranchers: Seek out all American beef and potentially pay a premium for it, or opt for the cheaper, imported alternative.
“My goal and top priority in bringing this labeling back is No. 1, to protect the American rancher and No. 2, to protect the American consumer,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview.
The new effort faces some resistance, as the cattle industry is split on whether mandatory labeling would be helpful. Retailers, meatpackers, feedlot owners and ranchers with large herds argue it imposes too many costs, while independent ranchers and those with smaller herds say it can be done cheaply and will benefit their bottom line.
The 2002 Farm Bill required retailers to put origin labels on fresh beef and a number of meats, fruits and vegetables. An expansion passed in 2008 added chicken to the list and modified rules on beef labels. Canada and Mexico complained to the World Trade Organization, arguing those requirements violated their trade agreements because it forced them to spend millions of dollars to comply with the rules.
The WTO agreed and allowed Canada and Mexico to impose more than $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs on the United States. To avoid those tariffs, Congress repealed the labeling rules for beef and pork in 2015 but left them in place for other products like chicken, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Read the article.