President Donald Trump is turning to more imported beef in an effort to bring down stubbornly high grocery prices. The move could provide some relief for hamburger buyers-but it won't solve America's cattle shortage, and the implications for meatpackers such as Tyson Foods and JBS are more complicated.

Trump said in a Friday social-media post that for the next 90 days the U.S. would allow up to 300,000 metric tons of beef intended for ground beef to enter the country without triggering the higher tariff normally charged on imports above existing quotas. He said there was a commitment for the imported beef to be sold at 25% below current market prices.

The move targets one of the fastest-rising items in the grocery aisle. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, ground beef was selling for $6.89 a pound on average in July, up 10% from a year ago and 57% more expensive than five years ago.

Imports can help relatively quickly because U.S. ground beef commonly combines lean imported beef with fattier trimmings produced domestically. The White House described that process in February, when Trump expanded the tariff-rate quota for Argentine lean beef by 80,000 metric tons to increase supplies available for ground beef.

Friday's much larger action could put downward pressure on wholesale ground-beef costs. That doesn't necessarily mean supermarket hamburger prices will fall 25%. Imported beef accounts for only part of the finished product, while processing, transportation, and retail costs also determine the shelf price.

More imports also don't address the fundamental reason beef is expensive: There still aren't enough cattle.

The U.S. had 28.5 million beef cows as of July 1, down 1% from a year earlier, while the 2026 calf crop is expected to fall 2%, according to the Agriculture Department. USDA this week lowered its forecast for 2026 beef production to 24.97 billion pounds and raised its projections for beef imports.

For meatpackers, that creates an awkward equation.

Companies such as Tyson and JBS buy live cattle and sell processed beef. More imported beef can increase the amount of meat competing in the U.S. market, potentially pushing wholesale beef prices lower. But it does nothing directly to increase the scarce supply of domestic cattle. If cattle prices remain elevated while beef prices fall, packers' margins could get squeezed further.

That problem is already visible. JBS said this month that rising cattle prices outpaced gains in beef prices during the second quarter, keeping industry spreads under pressure. Its North America beef business reported a loss of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization during the quarter.

Tyson, meanwhile, announced another restructuring of its beef network last week, citing one of the most severe cattle shortages in U.S. history. The company is closing or selling several facilities after sharply higher cattle costs weighed on its beef business.

For consumers, more imports offer a faster way to relieve hamburger inflation while the cattle herd slowly rebuilds. For meatpackers and ranchers, however, cheaper beef isn't necessarily good news. What matters is when cattle costs come down, and that could take years since rebuilding the herd is a slow biological process.

The U.S. Cattlemen's Association issued a statement on Friday opposing the 300,000-ton plan, arguing that additional imports could threaten cattle prices and discourage ranchers from expanding the depleted U.S. herd.