OMAHA (DTN) -- Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins stood with the acting Attorney General on Monday denouncing Brazilian packer ownership for being "affiliated with corruption, but also cartels and as recently as last week, slave labor."

She added all of that was "bad enough on its own, but it's also to the detriment of America's great independent ranchers and consumers."

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche made it clear the Trump administration is investigating the meatpacking industry for potential anti-competitive behavior.

Brazil is already under multiple "Section 301" investigations by the U.S. Trade Representative for potential trade violations in cases going back to last summer.

In the meantime, Brazilian beef exports to the U.S. are booming, according to monthly USDA trade data released Tuesday. Brazilian meat packers shipped $795 million in beef to the U.S. in the first three months of this year, up 21% from a year ago. Last year marked a record for Brazilian beef shipments to the U.S., topping $1.75 billion, up 39% from 2024.

USTR CASES AND BRAZIL

After launching a case in July 2025, USTR officials held a hearing in September on Brazil's trade actions in a range of areas, including anti-corruption enforcement and illegal deforestation. At that time, the Trump administration had a 76% tariff on Brazilian products, but those tariffs have since been cut to 15% after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in February.

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) testified in the September hearing, raising concerns over "Brazil's restrictions on U.S. beef and our long-standing concerns with the Brazilian government's track record of food safety and animal health."

NCBA in 2022 called for the suspension of beef imports from Brazil after a USDA report showed a spike in imports. At the time, Brazil's beef exports were half their current level.

The U.S. Cattlemen's Association (USCA) also testified in September, "calling for immediate and enforceable reforms to address illegal deforestation, corruption, and forced labor in Brazil's beef supply chains. Illegal deforestation in Brazil's cattle supply chain presents a direct threat to both global environmental goals and the competitive landscape for U.S. beef producers," USCA stated in its written testimony. "USCA urges USTR to ensure the highest standards of anti-corruption, supply chain traceability, environmental stewardship, and labor rights."

So far, no specific actions have been taken in the USTR case. DTN reached out to USTR about the status of the investigation into Brazil but did not receive an immediate response.

FORCED LABOR ALLEGATIONS

Private NGOs have been calling out Brazil's beef industry for years over illegal deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, intimidation of indigenous tribes and allegations of forced labor on ranches.

On April 29, Brazilian prosecutors filed lawsuits against the world's largest meatpacker, JBS, over labor abuses referenced by Rollins. The Associated Press reported prosecutors were suing JBS seeking nearly $24 million from the company for buying cattle from seven ranches over a 10-year period in which workers were held in "slavery-like conditions."

At the same time last week, USTR held a two-day hearing on a separate trade investigation into allegations over forced labor involving 60 countries, including Brazil. Dozens of people testified, focusing heavily on China, but no witnesses specifically testified about forced labor tied to Brazilian beef or agriculture.

Yet Brazil actually maintains a registry of companies known to use forced labor called the "Dirty List."

Even though its prosecutors were preparing cases against JBS and others, in written testimony to USTR the government of Brazil stated it "strongly rejects the allegations" of forced labor and requested USTR refrain from making any such findings. Brazil's testimony only barely referenced agriculture and beef in its 27 pages. Instead, the testimony pointed to the U.S. trade surplus with Brazil and Brazilian companies' investments in the U.S.

The Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Federation (CNA), in written testimony to USTR, also stated Brazil has strong standards written into its constitution against forced labor. "The Brazilian agricultural sector operates under one of the broadest legal standards for defining forced labor among major global exporters."

CNA added Brazil is not a source of trade distortion tied to forced labor, citing stringent sanctions against companies that engage in it. CNA does not reference any specific companies or potential cases in its nine-page testimony.

NOT CLEAR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

White House adviser Peter Navarro said at Monday's press conference he remembers "vividly" when the U.S. put tariffs on Brazil. "The beef lobby, represented by Brazilians, quietly threatened the White House and we saw that beef that should otherwise be on the counters sold in American grocery stores, going to China."

It's unclear what happens next with the USTR trade cases involving Brazil.

Rollins also declined to answer directly whether the Trump administration should break up foreign meatpackers and force Brazilian companies to divest.

Rollins said, "The goal is to preserve a way of life of rural America, to ensure our food security is absolute, that the importance of being able to feed ourselves in this country and not to rely on other countries again, it's absolute."

At the same time, the U.S. continues to import more beef -- and not just from Brazil. With U.S. consumer demand for beef at a high level, beef imports in total are exploding at $4.5 billion through March, up 28% from a year ago. That comes after record for beef imports at $13.75 billion in 2025, up nearly $2.5 billion from a year earlier.

In comparison, U.S. packers last year exported $9.3 billion in beef, down nearly 11% from 2024. So far, the dollar value of U.S. beef exports is down 13% for the first quarter of 2026.

Also see, "Trump Administration Nears Agri Stats Deal Amid Broader Meatpacker Probe," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

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