BILLINGS, Mont., March 4, 2025 – In a YouTube video published today [4], ranch group R-CALF USA explains its strong support for the 25% tariffs President Trump imposed today on imports from Canada and Mexico.
But the group goes even further to request similar tariffs on beef imports from Australia, New Zealand and South America, and it wants tariffs and tariff rate quotas on mutton and lamb meat imported from Australia and New Zealand.
As explained by R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, the theory and practice of free trade, as exemplified by zero tariffs, has all but destroyed the United States commercial sheep industry and is causing the rapid contraction of the domestic beef supply chain.
He said foreign countries have an inherent pricing advantage over domestic producers due to lower wage rates, lower production standards, relaxed environmental standards, and weaker currencies. According to Bullard, those factors enable global importers to leverage down domestic producer prices, which results in the dismantling of domestic food supply chains and displacement of domestic production with cheaper imports.
This, he said, threatens United States food security by forcing American consumers to become more and more dependent on foreign supply chains for their food.
Read the complete article: Ranch Group Supports New Tariffs; Wants More
