There is no grocery store price gouging. Prices at the store and prices you pay are rising lockstep with the Producer Price Index (PPI) for slaughter cows.

Trump is also investigating major meatpackers for collusion, but that's nonsense as well. Ten meatpackers are not going to be more efficient than four.

And Trump needs to look into the mirror at deportation practices killing the labor supply of meatpackers forcing up wages.

But hey, deport them all, right? $12.99 per pound would be just another small price to pay, wouldn't it?

The main culprit is cattle herd size. But deportations and labor supply played a role too.

Current Herd Situation (as of Jan 1, 2026)

Total U.S. cattle and calves: 86.2 million head — the smallest inventory in 75 years (lowest since ~1951) and the 8th consecutive year of contraction. nass.usda.gov

Beef cows: 27.6 million head, down 1% year-over-year, the smallest since 1961.

2025 calf crop: 32.9 million head, down ~1.6%, one of the smallest on record. Cattle Economics

Modest increases in replacement heifers and dairy cows, but not enough for meaningful expansion yet. Analysts expect the herd bottom may be near, but significant rebuilding likely won't occur until 2028 or later due to the biology of cattle cycles (gestation, time to market). fb.org

This tight supply — fewer breeding cows and calves entering the pipeline — directly constrains slaughter-ready cattle (fed steers/heifers + cull cows/bulls).

Trump Proposes Reducing Beef Tariffs

To alleviate rising beef prices, Trump is taking the politically popular price gouging meme.

Biden did this too, and Elizabeth Warren has been proposing this for decades, so it's a uniparty blame game here.

The interesting thing is Trump's proposal to lowing tariffs and quotas is a direct admission that tariffs raise prices!

So, yes, blame Trump for that, and Biden before Trump, and Trump before Biden, etc.