WACO, Texas (KXXV) — China's tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods took place on Monday, but before this year's latest tariffs even hit, The Butcher's Cellar in Woodway already felt a tighter squeeze on eggs and beef.
Thus forcing them to charge you a little more for your steak.
"You know, anytime there is a spike in pricing for whatever product, we will try to pivot as much as possible and try to find something close to that or come up with a new idea completely," Executive Chief Alejandro Najar told our Kadence MaKenna on Monday.
While this may be the case at some local restaurants, Texas' Commissioner of Agriculture Sid Miller doesn't believe China's latest tariffs, including 10% on beef and dairy products and 15% on cotton and wheat, will have much of an impact on grocery store prices.
Commissioner Miller calls the impacts from the latest tariffs a "little bumpy road ahead, but that won't last long."
Also, while Central Texas farmers and ranchers told 25 News' Bobby Poitevint the future following these latest tariffs are uncertain — some believe it could drive up the value of cattle because certain parts of the cow like female parts are delicacies in other parts of the globe.
Regarding China, Miller said cotton and grains are the state's most significant exports with a good bit of that going to China.
He added, "Cotton is overproduced and underpriced right now, so that's gonna be a little bit more challenging, but in the long run, the tariff war will benefit agriculture producers, and we have a history of that in the first Trump administration."
Commissioner Miller said Texas has re-aligned itself in recent years to supply more goods to other parts of the globe and currently exports 14 billion dollars in products to different parts of the world, including but not limited to China. He said this helps better position the state in times like these.
"Hopefully other states have learned that they don't need to put all their eggs in one basket because if that basket disappears you're in big trouble" said Commissioner Miller.
We will continue to monitor the tariff war and speak with local industry experts about its potential impacts on our Lone Star State neighbors.
