While President Trump has stuck to the storyline that tariffs are an economic boost for the U.S., one sector in particular shows a different story: beef. As WPI has noted many times, about half of all beef consumption in the U.S. is in the form of ground beef, and that ground beef relies on imported lean trim. With higher tariffs imposed on beef imports, prices have been affected. One key factor often overlooked is that consumers are willing to spend more on beef. Since 2022, per capita beef consumption has been largely unchanged at around 59 pounds per capita. For 2026, USDA’s forecast is that per capita consumption will be 58.9 pounds, essentially holding steady. How does that happen with the cattle herd in liquidation mode, fed cat...

TAGS – Livestock, North America