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Law & Policy Active Updated Sep 8, 2026

The country-of-origin beef labeling fight

Where it stands, Sep 8, 2026 Trump ordered Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to review within 90 days whether existing law allows mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and directed the USDA to widen ranchers' ability to process and sell meat directly across state lines.

President Trump ordered a review of whether existing law allows mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef and moved to widen ranchers' ability to sell meat directly across state lines, citing a US cattle herd at a 75-year low and dependence on four dominant processors. The Meat Institute warns mandatory labeling would raise costs, while the Department of Justice separately expanded its meatpacker price-fixing probe.

The story so far

  1. Sep 8, 2026 Latest

    Trump ordered Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to review within 90 days whether existing law allows mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef, and directed the USDA to widen ranchers' ability to process and sell meat directly across state lines. The Meat Institute, representing JBS, Cargill, Tyson Foods and National Beef, said mandatory labeling could add more than $1 billion a year in supply-chain costs, and the Department of Justice separately expanded its price-fixing probe to include Walmart and Costco.

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