The US approves the import of up to 80,000 extra tons of beef from Argentina this year

Washington.- President Donald Trump signed an executive order this Friday that will allow the import of an additional quota of 80,000 metric tons of lean meat from Argentina in 2026 to guarantee the supply of ground beef in the country. In the order, disclosed by the White House, Trump argues that the measure benefiting Argentina is due to the fact that the domestic supply of lean beef “will be insufficient to meet demand at reasonable prices due to a natural disaster (drought and fires) and a serious disruption of the national market.” The 80,000 tons of lean beef allocated to Argentina will be administered on a first-come, first-served basis in four quarterly installments of 20,000 metric tons each, and the first shipment is scheduled for February 13th. With this measure, Trump is temporarily modifying the tariff-rate quota for beef and seeks to stabilize prices in the market, after this product reached record prices at the end of 2025 of up to $6.69 per pound, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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A day before announcing this measure, the US and Argentina signed an agreement to eliminate reciprocal tariffs for more than 2,000 products from both countries across a diverse range of productive sectors. The new exclusive agreement for Argentine lean meat comes after Argentina’s President, Javier Milei, traveled to Miami in November 2025 for the America Business Forum, where he had announced that Trump would benefit the South American country with a meat import quota as a sign of the close commercial cooperation between both countries. Washington’s support for Buenos Aires has also been reflected in the financial arena, as last year the U.S. Treasury Department backed the Milei government’s efforts with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other organizations, within the framework of an assistance scheme that included financing commitments of some 40 billion dollars.