While President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs have been widely criticized, many in the beef industry are now backing the efforts.
One Oklahoma cattlemen says that he is hopeful after nearly every conversation he had in DC centered around tariff efforts.
Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Executive VP, Michael Kelsey stated, “President Trump really has a unique perspective regarding tariffs. Number one, he loves them and views them as revenue.... what we learned is a really unique concept. He’s using tariffs to bring people to the negotiating table, and so far it’s worked, and that’s why we’ve seen this. So, I’m going to institute these tariffs and then two days later, well, now I’m going to put it off for two weeks. Well, why did that happen? Because whoever that country was came and said, ‘Hey, wait a minute. Can we talk? Can we negotiate?’ Now it causes havoc in the markets to do that because it’s a roller coaster. It’s an on-again, off-again— I mean the market just does not like that type of volatility, but long-term it could be very, very positive.”
Despite that uncertainty, Klsey says that he believes the cattle industry should support the President and give him the opportunity to negotiate. The cattleman says that at the end of the day, he is still hopeful.
“Unfortunately, I don’t like to say this, but it’s true. We need to import ground beef because McDonald’s is the number one— the cheeseburger is the number one hamburger. Number one menu item, and we just don’t produce enough ground beef and I don’t want to start grinding up my briskets and ribeyes. They have more value as a brisket and a ribeye, and so that trade is important to elevate the value of our whole carcass, and so trade is pretty critical. So, we’re going to be patient. We’re going to work with him and try to promote good, free, and fair trade. That seems like what he wants to do with these tariffs. So, we’re going to be patient and work through that and be supportive,” he adds.
Some of those key importing countries include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Mexico.