The Brazilian billionaire who shares control of JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, lobbied President Trump to lower tariffs on beef imports as a way to tame rising U.S. prices.
Joesley Batista met with Trump in the Oval Office on Aug. 20, and they discussed how additional beef supplied from Brazil could help if Trump dropped a 26% import tax, according to people familiar with the matter. It couldn’t be learned who organized the meeting between Batista and Trump.
The next day, on social media, Trump announced a plan to temporarily allow more foreign beef imports into the U.S. Trump said the imported products would be sold at a 25% discount to market prices.
In a statement that day, the Brazilian government said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held an 80-minute call with Trump that touched on issues including tariffs, combating organized crime, and their views on current global conflicts. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of beef.
Rising beef prices have been a vexing conundrum for the Trump administration in its effort to lower costs on everyday goods. By agreeing to lower the tariffs on imported beef and reduce prices for consumers, Trump infuriated ranchers and drew strong rebukes from Republican lawmakers and industry groups. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the largest trade group for cattle ranchers, said government intervention will only hurt ranchers and prevent long-term stability in the beef industry.
Trump’s decision to temporarily lift tariffs on beef were met with pushback from Republicans fighting to win tough elections in the midterms in rural areas. Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, the Senate GOP nominee in her state, called the plan a bad idea. Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts, who is running for re-election, said on X that “short term policy shifts do not equal long term solutions.”
JBS has played a key role in helping shape Trump administration views, even before the recent executive order. Pilgrim’s Pride, the nation’s second-largest chicken processor, which is majority controlled by JBS, contributed $5 million to Trump’s inauguration, making it the biggest donor.
JBS has said that it has a long history of participating in the civic process and creating opportunities to provide safe, affordable food for American families.
The Justice Department is investigating the top four U.S. meatpackers—including JBS—over whether the companies are engaged in anticompetitive behavior. The companies have denied any wrongdoing and are struggling financially as cattle become more expensive to process in the U.S. Tyson Foods and JBS have closed plants after losing hundreds of millions of dollars processing beef.
For JBS, importing more of its Brazilian product into the U.S. would give the meatpacker a bigger share of the American market. Brazil sent about $1.5 billion worth of beef to the U.S. through the first six months of this year, up 10% from the year prior, according to Agriculture Department data.
JBS began as a family-owned slaughterhouse in the Brazilian countryside. It has since expanded to be one of the largest beef processors in the U.S. and Brazil, employing about 280,000 people in more than 20 countries.
Last year, the company listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, a goal it has long sought, hoping to draw a wider pool of investors and cement its image as an American meat giant.
Joesley Batista and his brother Wesley Batista are currently board members and major shareholders of JBS. The brothers were nearly sidelined after a corruption scandal in Brazil almost a decade ago, in which they admitted to bribing politicians and spent several months in jail. They separately settled U.S. corruption charges.
The company has said it now has a robust compliance program and that the brothers bring decades of operational experience.
The import plan from the Trump administration comes in response to a continuing shortage of cattle on American pastures. The supply shortage has driven up livestock prices, and in turn, pushed beef prices to record highs.
Trump’s plan calls for up to 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings to be imported into the U.S. over a 90-day period without a tariff. That total accounts for about 2% of the nation’s annual beef consumption.
A larger supply of lean meat from South America could temporarily lower prices for ground beef sold at grocery stores or found in fast-food restaurants. But it could also discourage ranchers from rebuilding their cattle herds, prolonging the supply shortage, according to analysts.
The announcement helped send cattle prices down, a move that could temper the profits that ranchers make on their animals. Feeder cattle futures, the price ranchers are paid by feedlots, are down about 9% over the past month, according to FactSet.
In May, the Trump administration floated a plan to suspend a tariff-rate quota applied to beef-exporting nations. But the plan was put on hold following an outcry from ranchers, administration officials, including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and some congressional Republicans, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Trump administration has taken several other actions to try to lower beef prices. It has announced plans to provide funding to boost smaller meatpacking operations to boost competition in the sector.
The Agriculture Department said in July it would reopen ports along the U.S.-Mexico border that had been closed to stem the spread of New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite. Meatpacking executives have said resuming the cattle trade was the fastest way to potentially lower beef prices.
Write to Patrick Thomas at patrick.thomas@wsj.com, Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com and Brian Schwartz at brian.schwartz@wsj.com