While President Donald Trump is threatening steeper import tariffs and freezing federal funds that have some American farmers and ranchers concerned, Argentine President Javier Milei announced that ranchers in his country are now be able to export live cattle for slaughter to foreign countries, a reversal of a 52-year-old prohibition.
The Argentine agriculture secretariat said this week that the reversal on cattle exports was a move towards “greater competition within the meat and livestock chain,” and is in line with Milei’s efforts “to deregulate South America’s second-biggest economy and boost growth.”
A spokesman for Milei said of Argentina’s beef exports: “Of the 2024 production, 29.4% was exported to 53 international markets, 11 more than the previous year, which had been 42.”
China buys the most beef from Argentina (almost 70% of the export total); the other top buyers are from the European Union, Israel, and the United States.
Note: In 2024, Argentina saw a 10 percent rise in beef exports — more than 935,000 metric tons of beef were exported, the most since 1924. (Note: The U.S. exported 1.29 million metric tons in 2024 — South Korea is the largest buyer.)
| Bajo el Gobierno de Milei, las exportaciones de carne vacuna superaron las 935.000 toneladas y fueron las más altas desde 1924, cuando Argentina era el granero del mundo.https://t.co/6YXWIyr9BT
— La Derecha Diario (@laderechadiario) February 26, 2025
According to a 2024 USDA report on Argentina livestock: “China is expected to continue to be the top export destination (measured in volume), but beef exports to the United States are forecast to remain strong given the import demand and Argentina’s current competitive prices.”
In late February 2025, price trackers showed the retail price range for Argentina beef was between US$ 2.19 and US$ 3.11 per pound. U.S. ground beef cost on average $5.55 per pound.
Why is American beef more expensive? According to NerdWallet, “To deal with rising operating costs, many U.S. cattle farmers reduced the size of their herds — and some got out of the business altogether. As a result, the U.S. cattle inventory is the smallest it’s been since 1951.”
According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), there were 87.2 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of Jan. 1, 2024, down 2% from the year before. It dropped another 1% last year.
Argentinian President Javier Milei presents Elon Musk with a ‘chainsaw for bureaucracy’ at CPAC 2025 pic.twitter.com/PsFALxod4a
— New York Post (@nypost) February 21, 2025
Note: Elon Musk’s DOGE team has reportedly fired approximately 4,200 USDA employees since the second Trump administration began. Musk celebrated DOGE’s actions (mass terminations of federal workers and federal spending cuts) at the CPAC last weekend with President Milei, who presented Musk with a ceremonial chainsaw. See video above.