'At our doorstep': Flesh-eating parasite closing in on red state after Trump-backed cuts

[AZJonnie]

14. The US has been a net importer of Beef in most years since the 1970's, with 2017-2022 being a rare break

wherein the levels were roughly even every year, driven by a surging demand in Asia.

It's for sure getting much more imbalanced recently, though. Much like with the WTI/Sour crude relationship, this has partly been a price/arbitrage thing. Particularly in Asia, consumers will pay top dollar for high-quality cuts from the USA (more than people here will pay, generally). Then we import cheaper cuts, mostly from the global south. Drought has SERIOUSLY affected the size of the US herd over the past couple of years. Of late, we aren't raising anywhere near enough cattle to supply the whole domestic beef market for the cheaper stuff. Makes more economic sense for US "ranchers" to focus on raising fewer, but more valuable, heads, while people at home eat the cheaper stuff from the likes of Mexico, Brazil and Australia.