Trump Orders DOJ Beef Probe as Prices Threaten $10 Per Pound

Beef prices across North America have reached record highs, with some industry leaders warning that ground beef could hit $10 per pound by late 2026. Donald Trump responded by ordering the Department of Justice to investigate major meat packers for alleged collusion and price fixing. To further lower costs, the administration eliminated tariffs on beef, coffee, and other commodities and quadrupled beef imports from Argentina.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attributed the price surge to a perfect storm of factors inherited from the Biden administration and the re-emergence of the New World screwworm in Mexico. Bessent claimed that mass immigration from South America introduced the parasite into North America, which necessitated the suspension of Mexican livestock imports in May to protect the domestic supply chain.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins disputed the $10-per-pound projection, pledging to lower prices by the summer of 2026 by opening five million acres of grazing land and reopening cattle ports. She characterized the current crisis as the result of the previous administration's literal war on cattle. However, economists and industry experts, such as Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe, suggest that the primary drivers are a 70-year low in the cattle herd caused by severe droughts between 2021 and 2023, as well as the impact of the administration's own earlier tariffs on beef and farm equipment.