Country-of-Origin Labeling for Beef: A Resurgent Issue for U.S. Producers

There has been a renewed focus on federal country-of-origin labeling for beef after President Donald Trump’s administration announced plans to quadruple the amount of beef imported from Argentina, where Trump’s political ally is the president.

Cattle ranchers have been incensed that Trump would allow more beef imports into the U.S. and pressure them to lower their prices. Fourteen Republicans from the U.S. House of Representatives followed the criticism by releasing an open letter to the Trump administration asking Trump to reconsider his idea.

RELATED: President Trump criticized U.S. cattle ranchers last week after they showed their displeasure with his decision to important more beef from Argentina. Trump accused the cattle ranchers of not understanding how tariffs work.

“While we share the Administration’s goal of lowering costs for consumers, we are concerned that granting additional market access to Argentina - already one of our largest beef suppliers - will undermine American cattle producers, weaken our position in ongoing trade negotiations, and reintroduce avoidable animal-health risks,” the letter stated.

The administration hasn’t announced a change of plans after the widespread agricultural industry criticism. However, the USDA announced a plan to increase grazing access, disaster support, and efforts to boost beef demand.

Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act of 2025 Introduced

A bipartisan group of legislators is backing a bill that would once again require labels on beef sold in the United States to accurately state the meat’s country of origin. This could stop the practice of packaging foreign beef and claiming that it is produced in the U.S.

U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman (R-WY) and U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) sponsored the legislation.

“American consumers deserve accurate information on the products they buy, and U.S. ranchers deserve honest and fair competition in the marketplace. The U.S. abandoned MCOOL (mandatory country of origin labeling) for beef in 2016 following a World Trade Organization ruling,” Hageman said in a statement.

She continued, “This change lifted the profit margins of monopolistic big packers at the expense of the American rancher. The domestic market is finally providing the means for our producers to keep family ranches alive, and we must protect these operations by providing full transparency of the origin of beef in the marketplace. MCOOL is more important than ever to grow the size of the national herd and stop the blending of cheap foreign beef in high-quality U.S. products.” 

Hageman’s statement did not criticize the Trump administration. Khanna’s statement reminded Americans why this legislation has resurfaced.

“The Trump administration is quadrupling Argentinian beef imports while our farmers continue to struggle. We need trade policy that puts America first. I’m proud to lead legislation with Rep. Hageman that blocks multi-national meat packing companies that are importing cattle and falsely labeling it as American,” Khanna said.

Rancher advocacy group R‑CALF USA applauded the legislation. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard said, “Consumers deserve the right to choose to buy imported beef or beef from America’s ranchers, and ranchers deserve the right to compete in their own domestic market. This important bill will accomplish both.”

RELATED: Nearly one month ago, it appeared that the Trump administration was about to unveil an aid package for farmers. But it hasn’t happened yet as the partial federal government shutdown has dragged on. Here’s what the package could have included.