President Trump has announced a 90-day suspension of higher tariffs on ground-beef imports, allowing up to 300,000 metric tons of product to enter the United States at 25 percent below market price. The White House says the move followed a long policy-planning process to address a short-term supply crunch and was not the result of any single conversation. The defense came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Joesley Batista, who shares control of JBS, lobbied Trump the day before the announcement to remove a 26 percent import tax. The measure is intended to lower prices for working families while giving the U.S. cattle herd time to recover from a multi-decade low, although ranchers and experts have questioned how much consumers will benefit. The plan covers beef trimmings rather than steaks and other cuts, and the permitted volume would increase overall beef supply by about 2 percent. Imported beef is often frozen, meaning some of the supply may go to food-service customers rather than grocery stores. JBS-controlled Pilgrim's Pride contributed $5 million to Trump's inauguration, while Joesley and Wesley Batista previously agreed to pay a $256 million Justice Department fine after admitting to bribing more than 1,800 Brazilian officials to secure $1.3 billion in loans.