Ensuring Affordable Beef for the American Consumer

Proclamation 11010 of February 6, 2026

Ensuring Affordable Beef for the American
Consumer

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

1. Cattle ranchers have played an integral role in
United States history, helping to forge an American
identity and an American diet with beef as a key staple
food. Today, beef remains vital in the American diet,
evidenced by the fact that the United States is the
largest consumer of beef by volume, followed closely by
China and Brazil. And the United States ranks second in
per capita beef consumption globally.

2. But in 2022, the United States faced a widespread
and severe drought, affecting beef-producing States,
such as Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, South
Dakota, and Kansas. Texas and Kansas, for example,
continue to face persistent drought conditions. The
effects of drought are particularly pronounced for
livestock producers as many of their operations rely on
precipitation to grow forage crops to feed their herds.

3. In addition to droughts, wildfires have affected the
grasslands of the western United States, including
America's cattle-producing States. Apart from the
direct threat of burns and burn-associated deaths to
cattle, cattle ranchers have had to adapt to indirect
effects of wildfires, including changes in grazing
patterns, loss of feed supplies, and suboptimal animal
health for those cattle surviving the wildfires.

4. Given the demand for beef, certain United States
cattle farmers and ranchers supplement their herds,
specifically their feedlot stocks, with cattle (calves)
imported from Mexican ranchers. But following new
detections of the New World screwworm in Mexico in May
2025, the Department of Agriculture Animal Plant and
Health Inspection Service, in conjunction with U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), restricted the
importation of live animal commodities from or
transiting through Mexico, further limiting domestic
feedlot stock supplies.

5. These factors have combined to result in the United
States cattle herd contracting to record lows. As of
July 2025, the United States cattle inventory totaled
94.2 million head, including 28.7 million beef cows.
This is one percent lower than the United States cattle
inventory surveyed in July 2023, continuing the
downward trend of cattle inventory in the United
States.

6. The abovementioned factors have also cumulatively
resulted in higher beef prices for United States
consumers, including for ground beef. Since January
2021, ground beef prices have continued to rise,
reaching an average of $6.69 per pound in December
2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics--the
highest since the Department of Labor started tracking
beef prices in the 1980s.

7. Despite the increased prices and the availability of
more affordable protein alternatives, United States
consumers' demand for beef remains strong. The United
States imported a record high amount of beef in 2024,
reaching 4.64 billion pounds, a more than 24 percent
increase in beef imports since 2023. Among the beef
products the United States imports are lean trimmings,
which are blended with fattier domestic trimmings to
produce ground beef products, such as hamburgers.

8. The Secretary of Agriculture has monitored the
domestic supply of beef products subject to a tariff-
rate quota (TRQ), including lean beef trimmings falling
under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States
(HTSUS) statistical reporting numbers 0201.30.5091,
0201.30.5097, 0202.30.5091 and 0202.30.5097, and noted
the domestic supply of such products and substitutable
products combined with the estimated imports of such
products under the United States beef import TRQ. The
Secretary of Agriculture also advised on related
domestic demand and pricing.

9. As President of the United States, I have a
responsibility to ensure that hard-working Americans
can afford to feed themselves and their families. After
considering the information provided to me by the
Secretary of Agriculture, among other relevant
information, I am taking action to temporarily increase
the quantity of in-quota imports of lean beef trimmings
under the United States beef TRQ to increase the supply
of ground beef for United States consumers.

10. Section 404 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act
(URAA) (Public Law 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809, 4959-61 (19
U.S.C. 3601)) authorizes the President, in certain
circumstances, to modify TRQs on certain agricultural
products. In particular, section 404(b) of the URAA (19
U.S.C. 3601(b)) provides that where imports of an
agricultural product are subject to a TRQ, and where
the President determines and proclaims that the supply
of the same or directly competitive or substitutable
agricultural product will be inadequate, because of a
natural disaster, disease, or major national market
disruption, to meet domestic demand at reasonable
prices, the President may temporarily increase the
quantity of imports of the agricultural product that is
subject to the in-quota rate of duty established under
the TRQ. And section 404(d)(3) of the URAA (19 U.S.C.
3601(d)(3)) provides that the President may allocate
the in-quota quantity of a TRQ for any agricultural
product among supplying countries or customs areas and
may modify any allocation as determined appropriate by
the President.

11. After considering the information provided to me by
the Secretary of Agriculture, among other relevant
information, I find that imports of lean beef trimmings
into the United States are currently subject to the
United States TRQ for beef and determine that the
supply of lean beef trimmings or directly competitive
or substitutable agricultural products will be
inadequate to meet domestic demand at reasonable prices
because of a natural disaster and major national market
disruption. Accordingly, I determine that it is
necessary and appropriate to temporarily increase the
quantity of imports of lean beef trimmings subject to
the in-quota rate of duty established under the beef
TRQ. In addition, I determine that it is appropriate to
allocate all of the increased in-quota quantity of
beef, as established by this proclamation, to
Argentina.

12. Section 604 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended
(19 U.S.C. 2483), authorizes the President to embody in
the HTSUS the substance of statutes affecting import
treatment, and actions thereunder, including the
removal, modification, continuance, or imposition of
any rate of duty or other import restriction.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the
United States of America, by the authority vested in me
by the Constitution and the laws of the United States,
including section 404 of the URAA, section 604 of the
Trade Act of 1974, as amended, and section 301 of title
3, United States Code, do hereby proclaim as follows:

(1) For calendar year 2026, the aggregate in-quota quantity for certain
products described in Additional U.S. Note 3 of Chapter 2 of the HTSUS will
be increased by 80,000 metric tons (mt).

(2) The additional 80,000 mt described in clause (1) of this proclamation
will apply only to lean beef trimmings classifiable under HTSUS statistical
reporting numbers 0201.30.5091, 0201.30.5097, 0202.30.5091, and
0202.30.5097.

(3) The additional 80,000 mt described in clauses (1) and (2) of this
proclamation will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis in
four quarterly tranches. The first tranche of 20,000 mt will open on
February 13, 2026, and close on March 31, 2026. The second tranche of
20,000 mt will open on April 1, 2026, and close on June 30, 2026. The third
tranche of 20,000 mt will open on July 1, 2026, and close on September 30,
2026. The fourth tranche of 20,000 mt will open on October 1, 2026, and
close on December 31, 2026.

(4) The additional 80,000 mt described in clauses (1) and (2) of this
proclamation is allocated in its entirety to Argentina.

(5)(a) To establish the TRQ amendments described in this proclamation, the
HTSUS is modified as set forth in the Annex to this proclamation.

(b) The United States Trade Representative (Trade Representative), in
consultation with CBP, shall determine whether any additional modifications
to the HTSUS are necessary to effectuate this proclamation and shall make
such modifications to the HTSUS through notice in the Federal Register,
including any technical correction to the Annex to this proclamation.

(6) The Secretary of Agriculture shall continue to monitor the domestic
supply of lean beef trimmings, as the Secretary considers appropriate, and
shall advise me on the domestic supply of lean beef trimmings or directly
competitive or substitutable products, combined with the estimated imports
of such products under the TRQ as adjusted by this proclamation, and how
such availability relates to domestic demand at reasonable prices. The
Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Trade Representative,
shall inform me of any circumstances that, in the Secretary's opinion,
might indicate the need for further action and shall recommend to me any
additional action I should take, if necessary.

(7) Each executive department and agency (agency) is authorized to and
shall take all appropriate measures within its authority to implement this
proclamation. The head of each agency may, consistent with applicable law,
including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, redelegate any of
these functions within their respective agency.

(8) Any provision of previous proclamations and Executive Orders that is
inconsistent with the actions taken in this proclamation is superseded to
the extent of such inconsistency. If any provision of this proclamation or
the application of any provision to any individual or circumstance is held
to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of
its provisions to any other individuals or circumstances shall not be
affected.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-six, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.

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