GOP Congressman Bashes Trump Over Beef Imports on CNN

Representative Mark Alford (R-MO) publicly broke with President Donald Trump during a Friday CNN appearance, blasting the administration’s new decision to dramatically expand imports of Argentine beef — a move he says betrays American ranchers.

“I stand behind our beef producers here,” Alford told CNN’s Omar Jimenez. “We do not need more imports from Argentina.”

The congressman’s comments come as the White House made official on Wednesday its decision to allow approximately four times the current amount of Argentine beef to enter the U.S. annually at reduced tariff rates.

“I was down [in Argentina] last year,” continued Alford, “and their beef isn’t that great. I would prefer a Missouri, Kansas City strip any day over an Argentine beef.”

According to Reuters, the U.S. is expanding the tariff-rate quota for Argentine beef to about 80,000 metric tons annually. The White House argues that the policy will ease record-high beef prices by boosting supply amid tight U.S. cattle inventories.

“The Cattle Ranchers, who I love, don’t understand that the only reason they are doing so well… is because I put Tariffs on cattle coming into the United States,” Trump wrote via Truth Social on Wednesday, adding that “the consumer is a very big factor in my thinking, also!”

Yet GOP lawmakers from ranching states, like Alford, have been quick to denounce the decision. According to Newsweek, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) said he raised his concerns directly with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) likewise told Newsweek she has “deep concerns” about the plan, adding that America’s cattle ranchers have had “the rug pulled out from under them” by the administration’s decision.

Major ranching groups — including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and R-CALF USA — have also criticized the move.

Watch the clip above via CNN.