US President Donald Trump said on Friday (28) that he is preparing an order to let ranchers and farmers process their own food, a direct attack on the country's big meatpackers. Without naming companies, he said four firms make life miserable for American producers. One of them is JBS USA, the American arm of Brazil's JBS, the world's largest meatpacker. According to Reuters, Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS USA and National Beef Packing control about 85% of US meat processing. None of the four responded to the agency's requests for comment.
Trump gave no date for the order, but said he had authorized legal documents to break what he called a "powerful monopoly."
"For years I have heard that they face an enormous problem with the big processors, which many consider a nefarious monopoly," Trump wrote on his social network.
US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there will be "big announcements" on beef processing starting Monday (31), including broader ability for ranchers to sell products across state lines, support for small meatpackers and the cancellation of "outdated guidelines."
Expensive beef and the smallest herd in 75 years
The push comes months before the November midterm elections, with food prices pressuring the government. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a pound (about 454 grams) of ground beef reached US$6.82 in June 2026, up 79% from early 2019. The increase reflects tight supply: the US cattle herd is at its lowest level in 75 years, and Washington suspended most Mexican cattle imports in 2025 over the New World screwworm, a parasite that infests cattle.
To ease the domestic market, Trump signed on Wednesday (26) a quota of 300,000 tonnes of lean beef trimmings and cuts, the raw material for ground beef, at a reduced tariff. The measure runs from September 1 to November 30, 2026: within the quota, the tariff drops from the current 26.4% to US$44 per tonne, according to Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (Mapa). The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts a roughly 4% drop in US beef production in 2026 compared with 2025.
Mapa said on Friday that Brazil can capture a large share of that volume. The country has no specific beef quota in the US and can therefore compete for the expanded volume, which also covers Paraguay and Ireland. "The economic advantage of the quota is significant, and Brazil is in a position to benefit from a large part of it," the ministry said, without estimating how much of the total could go to Brazilian exporters. Washington will monitor prices: if imported products are not sold at least 25% below market price, the US may withdraw the remaining share of the quota.
On the American side, Trump's promise is to give ranchers bargaining power now concentrated in four packers, and to give consumers cheaper ground beef ahead of the election. On the Brazilian side, the quota opens a three-month window for exporters to raise sales to the highest-paying protein market, while JBS, which processes beef inside the US, waits for the final shape of the order against the big packers to gauge the impact on its operation.