Ground beef cost an average of $6.79 a pound in September, down from a record $6.92 in August, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Oct. 14. It was the first monthly drop since May. The dip came in the first month of President Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs for imported lean beef trimmings, a program that enters its final window this weekend as foreign shipments climb and U.S. ranchers object.
The proclamation, signed Aug. 26, raised the 2026 tariff-free import quota for lean beef trimmings by 300,000 metric tons, released in three 100,000-ton tranches. The second tranche closes Friday, Oct. 30. The third opens Saturday, Oct. 31, and runs until it fills or until Nov. 30. The trimmings are blended with U.S. beef to make ground beef. The order says the imported product must be “sold at a price 25 percent below the market price for lean beef trimmings,” and the president can cancel what remains if it is not.
Brazil has been the biggest beneficiary. Brazilian beef exports to the United States reached $263.5 million in September, up 524 percent from $42.2 million a year earlier, according to Comex Stat, the trade database of Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services. By volume, shipments rose to 44,435 metric tons from 7,852 tons.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the United States Cattlemen’s Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation opposed the pause when it was announced. Al Jazeera reported Sunday that cattle auction prices fell after the announcement. Republican Sens. Tim Sheehy of Montana and John Barrasso of Wyoming also criticized the move. The U.S. cattle herd stood at 86.2 million head on Jan. 1, down from 86.5 million a year earlier, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Beef is still well above last year. The September ground beef average was 7.4 percent higher than the $6.32 of September 2025. The broader beef index fell 1.0 percent in September, the BLS said, while grocery prices overall were up 1.8 percent over 12 months.
Why it matters: Ground beef is the beef most households buy, and a 13-cent drop is the first relief in months. Whether the discount keeps showing up at the meat counter decides whether the tariff pause survives, since the order lets the president end it if prices do not fall. Ranchers say lower auction prices discourage rebuilding the herd, which is what keeps beef expensive in the first place.
Sources: the White House proclamation, the BLS average price series for ground beef, the BLS September CPI release and the USDA Jan. 1 Cattle report.