In the first month of President Trump’s second term, the Trump Administration has made clear it intends to focus its efforts on matters surrounding international trade and the imposition of tariffs. While not an official trade sanction, a recent bipartisan bill targeting the labeling and promotion of beef products may be viewed by some as another restriction on international trade. On Feb. 5, 2025, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD)[1] reintroduced the “American Beef Labeling Act,” which requires mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef. 

MCOOL was first introduced in the 2002 Farm Bill in an effort to provide consumers with transparency and education regarding the source of their food products. Although beef was previously covered by federal MCOOL requirements, the World Trade Organization determined that the United States’ MCOOL requirements for beef and pork violated the United States’ obligations under the WTO Agreement. Based on this ruling, Congress removed beef and pork from the mandatory COOL program in the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

Without MCOOL requirements for beef, imported beef products may be labeled as “products of the USA” even if they were only processed or packaged in the US. As a result, the legislation and its supporters seek to provide transparency in labeling for both producers and consumers of beef as a whole – from farm to fork. If passed, the legislation would require the US Trade Representative to develop a means of reinstating MCOOL requirements for beef in consultation with the US Department of Agriculture and in compliance with WTO standards. The USTR would have six months after the enactment of the law to develop the reinstatement plan, which would be followed by another six-month window to implement the proposed plan.

USDA regulations already set forth MCOOL requirements for certain “covered” commodities, including fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish; muscle cut and ground chicken, lamb, and goat meat; raw peanuts, pecans and macadamia nuts; and ginseng. A covered commodity may only bear a United States country of origin label if, in the case of lamb, chicken and goat products, the animal was exclusively born, raised, and slaughtered in the US (with certain exceptions for animals born and raised in Alaska and Hawaii).[2] If an animal was born and/or raised in Country X and then slaughtered in the US, the animal product must be labeled to account for the production steps in each country (e.g. “Born and raised in Country X, Slaughtered in the US”).[3]

While not specified in the proposed legislation, it is likely the MCOOL requirements for beef products would mirror those already imposed on other animal products. Given how interconnected animal-rearing facilities have become across jurisdictions, it is critical that the USTR and USDA work together to create specific labeling requirements to guide the processor, supplier and retailer on how to label such products. For example, what are the MCOOL requirements in an era of artificial insemination and multi-jurisdictional animal-rearing facilities or processing facilities? If the MCOOL requirements for beef closely mirror those for other animal products, those in the processing, packaging and retailer industry must ensure that products are labeled accurately to account for those production steps within each country. For ranchers, they could potentially see supply agreements with a processor requiring a certification that details where the animal was born and raised.  This is largely because the supplier to retailers (e.g. a processor) is required to provide substantiated documentation to prove the country of origin for the product it is supplying under existing regulations for non-beef products falling within COOL. With the Farm Bill set to expire in September 2025, domestic and international cattle farming and processing facilities should closely monitor the progression of this legislation and any resulting regulations issued by USTR and USDA.