LIVESTOCK-CME cattle futures jump as Trump tariff plans fuel beef supply concerns

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, April 2 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures set contract highs on Wednesday as expectations for U.S. President Donald Trump's new tariffs on imports fueled concerns that lofty beef prices may climb higher, analysts said.

The U.S. is a net importer of beef and expanded imports in recent years to boost supplies as domestic cattle inventories shrank to their lowest levels in more than seven decades.

Restaurants and retailers increasingly rely on beef from countries including Australia and New Zealand to mix with U.S. supplies to make hamburger meat.

Trump highlighted beef imports from Australia in a White House speech about reciprocal tariffs.

"They ban American beef, yet we imported $3 billion of Australian beef from them just last year alone," he said. "They won't take any of our beef. They don't want it because they don't want it to affect their farmers."

Trump said he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the United States and higher duties on dozens of the country's biggest trading partners.

Before his speech, CME June live cattle futures LCM25 closed up 1.975 cents at 207.4 cents per pound. The contract earlier set a high at 207.725 cents.

CME May feeder cattle FCK25 rose 0.775 cents to 287.925 cents per pound, and deferred futures set contract highs.

In the pork market, CME June lean hog futures LHM25 slipped 0.5 cents to end at 96.525 cents per pound.

"Today, of course, most attention will be on politics and trade," U.S.-based commodity broker StoneX said. "The cattle/beef complex is about the one ag market where we import more product than we export."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had said he "won't compromise" on three areas likely to be targeted by U.S. tariffs, after they were listed in a U.S. Trade Representative report on foreign trade barriers.

The report included Australia's ban on U.S. fresh beef products, in place since bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, was detected in U.S. cattle in 2003.

The U.S. imported 392,892 metric tons of Australian beef in 2024, up 66% from the previous year and 173% from 2022, according to U.S. government data.