Do you know where your beef comes from?
If the sticker reads “Product of the United States” that may not mean exactly what you think it does. That is partially why a bipartisan group of Congressmen led by the Wyoming Republican Harriet Hageman and the California Democrat Ro Khanna reintroduced the Country of Origin Labeling Enforcement Act on October 24, which would reinstate mandatory country of origin labeling (MCOOL) for beef products. The bill would also raise fines for those that falsely label their beef as made in the USA, including multinational packers.
In the United States, Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL laws for short, require retailers to print labels on agricultural products to inform the American consumer if a product is imported from other countries. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the labeling system is neither a food safety nor a food traceability program but rather a consumer information program. It’s why when you buy mangos or grapes or bananas you will see a sticker on the goods informing the consumer of the country or countries where the product was grown and harvested.
But when you purchase beef in the United States, are you actually getting beef that was 100 percent raised and packed in the USA? In 2002, Congress passed a series of laws implementing country of origin requirements for select commodities, including beef. But those requirements for beef were scuttled by Congress in 2015 after the World Trade Organization ruled that the U.S. MCOOL laws were in violation of WTO rules. Ever since that decision, beef that is labeled with “Product of the USA” stickers could actually be products that are raised outside the United States but packed for consumption inside our country. This discrepancy is what motivated Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of the cosponsors of last week’s bill, to speak out in 2015 when Congress first changed the regulations.
“Americans want to know, where does their food come from,” Massie said at the time. “If you buy pork or beef or chicken, wouldn’t you want to know where that food came from? And why would you want to know? Well, different countries have different rules and different cultures.”
Different standards are, ironically, one of the reasons why European countries rarely import American beef; EU food regulations prohibit the use of hormones for growth promotion in cattle. Much of the American beef supply is treated with hormones such as estradiol to speed growth and reduce fat which European regulators say pose potential health risks for consumers. As a result, most American beef fails to qualify under European import standards. U.S. regulators such as the USDA and the FDA, however, contest those claims, arguing that the residues are safe for consumers.
For cattle ranchers in America, the laws regulating country of origin labeling and recent decisions by President Donald Trump have created a headache for an industry that is already struggling to compete. Trump, who has repeatedly promised to deliver lower meat prices at the grocery store, and who has so far failed to deliver on that promise in his second term, recently suggested importing beef from Argentina’s meat-producing industry in a bid to provide relief to consumers as well as quasi-embattled Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a close ally of the president. This decision to help Argentinian beef producers at a moment when American cattle ranchers are struggling to make ends meet was met with criticism from the National Cattleman’s Beef Association, who said importing Argentinian beef would “[undercut] the future of family farmers.”
“The president hears them,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in response to the NCBA’s statement. “He has to address both of these problems for the ranchers but also for the American consumers. He promised to lower costs and that’s what he’s doing.” But the true numbers are stark. Ground beef is up nearly 55 percent since 2020 and that number is failing to fall as the holiday season approaches.
“The Trump administration is quadrupling Argentinian beef imports while our farmers continue to struggle,” said Khanna in a statement released along with the bill. “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.”
But do American consumers really care about where their meat comes from if the price remains high? That’s one argument against mandatory country of origin laws that would raise fines on multi-national packers who choose to source beef from outside the U.S. and ultimately provide a challenge to lowering the cost of meat for the end consumer. But isn’t it worth paying a little extra at the shopping market if it means supporting American cattle ranchers whose lives depend on American customers purchasing beef born and raised inside our borders? This is the major dilemma at the heart of the beef price discussion and part of the reason why Trump is looking beyond our borders in an effort to provide pricing relief to consumers at the store.
But for America First conservatives and Democrats in Congress, including Reps. Warren Davidson (R-OH), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who cosponsored last week’s bill, sourcing beef from beyond our borders goes against the vision of the MAGA movement that rallied for good jobs and good, quality food expressly for and produced by Americans.
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“Americans deserve to know where their food comes from especially if supermarkets are going to be flooded with foreign beef,” added Massie a day after the bill was introduced. “America First!”
Hageman’s bill would provide the best of both worlds, creating both the regulated structure needed to ensure “Made in the USA” actually means what it says and also still providing the American consumer with the opportunity to buy cheaper beef imported from outside the States.
“We are grateful for Representative Hageman’s leadership in creating a competitive marketplace for both ranchers and consumers with her bill requiring accurate origin information on beef,” said Bill Bullard, CEO, R-CALF USA. “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 bill will accomplish both.”
