The U.S. Department of Agriculture is beginning to reopen a border crossing in Arizona for cattle imports on Monday, hoping the move will help reduce high beef prices.
The move comes under the shadow of the ongoing New World screwworm outbreak that has seen nearly 50 confirmed cases in the U.S. and more than 38,000 confirmed cases in Mexico, according to USDA data.
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Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said last month that the outbreak of the parasite has been controlled enough to allow the reopening to proceed without risking wider infections in U.S. cattle and other animals it targets. But on Wednesday, officials in the Mexican state of Sonora, which borders the Arizona border crossing, said they were activating emergency protocols after confirming the first screwworm case in the state, according to Reuters.
The USDA said in a post on X that the case wasn’t changing its plans.
“[USDA] is fully engaged with our partners both foreign and domestic about the confirmed case of [New World screwworm] in Sonora, 292 miles from the border,” the post said. “Rapid detection and reporting facilitate our layered and aggressive response approach.”
Screwworm cases continue to rise
The USDA said late last week that the two Mexican states that border the Douglas, Arizona, cattle port, Sonora and Chihuahua, are the “lowest-risk” states for screwworm. It said the states have “well-established inspection programs” and are far away from southern Mexico, which has seen the most cases of the insect.
The department said the closest active case to the U.S. port is about 292 miles away in Sonora.
“The opening of ports may be paused if USDA identifies increased risk in Sonora or Chihuahua via post-opening audits or other observations/information,” the department said.
Straight Arrow spoke to Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller last month after Rollins announced her plan to reopen the cattle ports. He said that he wasn’t worried that the plan could introduce more screwworms into the U.S. because of the protocols in place to protect cattle herds.
“Before they ever get to the border, they have to be vaccinated. They have to be dipped in an insecticide that totally annihilates a screwworm or any other parasites,” Miller said. “They have to be given a shot of an anti-parasitic drug like Demax or ivermectin. So there’s really just no opportunity whatsoever for an infected animal to come across.”
Trump tries to tackle beef prices
The main goal of reopening the cattle ports closed down is to lower beef prices. It’s just one of the few initiatives the Trump administration has done to combat rising prices.
Beef prices were already increasing before the screwworm outbreak started. Years before the first case reached the U.S., Straight Arrow reported that years of drought conditions left cattle ranchers unable to keep up with U.S. demand and herd numbers collapsed. In 2022, the average cost for a pound of beef was just under $5, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. In July, that rose to $6.85, more than 10% higher than a year earlier.
President Donald Trump on Friday said that he was suspending tariffs on foreign beef to help lower prices. Specifically, the president was allowing 300,000 metric tons of ground beef into the U.S. for the next 90 days. In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said the U.S. received a commitment that the beef would be sold at 25% below the current market price.
“This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again,” Trump wrote.
But the deal left some of his closest allies upset that the decision would hurt American ranchers.
“Importing more foreign beef comes at the expense of our cattlemen, who are critical to both affordable and sustainable food supplies,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told AL.com. “I appreciate the administration’s efforts to make life more affordable for hardworking Americans; however, we must do so in a way that supports our cattlemen here at home and strengthens domestic food security.”
Other Republicans, like Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy, said he advised the president against the idea. Sheehy said it would make it “more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people.”
Agriculture experts are also pushing back against the Trump administration’s plan at the border. Derrell Peel, a professor of agribusiness at Oklahoma State University, told The Associated Press that he didn’t believe the decision would lead to meaningful change, since the U.S. gets only about 3% of its cattle from Mexico.