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U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick defended President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on more than 180 countries Wednesday on Fox News, and made a particularly baffling claim that is already being ridiculed on social media.
In a “Hannity” segment introduced as “The Golden Age of America,” host Sean Hannity accused America’s trade partners of “abusing and stealing from us” and asked Lutnick where the growing criticism against Trump’s supposedly “fair” tariffs is coming from.
“It was just soft politicians as President Trump said,” Lutnick argued Wednesday, adding: “I mean the European Union won’t take chicken from America. They won’t take lobsters from America. They hate our beef — because our beef is beautiful! And theirs is weak.”
While U.S. beef imports into Europe increased by more than 2,000 metric tons in 2022, most social media users focused on Lutnick’s premise that beef in the European Union, which has many more restrictions on the use of antibiotics in livestock, is “weak.”
“Nah — what they hate is that American beef comes marinated in hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals their governments banned decades ago,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter. “This isn’t about nationalism. It’s about trash food policy.”
Trump dubbed April 2 “Liberation Day” and announced a sweeping 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. Levies on some countries were set even higher, including China and the European Union — which now face tariffs of 54% and 20%, respectively.
A few Republicans reached across the aisle Wednesday, joining every single Senate Democrat in voting against the emergency powers that Trump used earlier this year to impose his initial tariffs on Canada.
Lutnick appeared baffled that criticism of U.S. tariffs existed at all, meanwhile, and decried during his interview Wednesday that the people in Japan don’t buy American cars and the U.S. supposedly can’t even “sell rice to Asia,” deeming the latest Trump policies long overdue.
“Why in the world do we let these people sell their cars?” Lutnick asked Wednesday.
“Finally, finally, the man behind the Resolute Desk, the man in the Oval Office, Donald Trump, is finally standing up for our farmers, our ranchers, and our manufacturers, to let the world understand, either they buy our products, or don’t bother coming here,” he added.
Lutnick: "European Union won't take chicken from America ... they hate our beef because our beef is beautiful and theirs is weak." pic.twitter.com/dcB7gX4LhR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 3, 2025Economists have already warned these policies will spike prices for U.S. consumers.
Lutnick’s claim that the U.S. “can’t sell rice” to the region, meanwhile, is blatantly false: The Department of Agriculture noted in January that America exports 40-45% of its annual rice crop to countries like Mexico, Canada — and parts of Northeast Asia.
His comment about “beautiful” beef has since been aptly getting skewered.
They hate our beef, Crazy Eddie, because it’s filled with antibiotics. @howardlutnick WTF is weak beef? You’re weak beef. Your beef is so weak it’s chicken.
— colleen (@waysandmeans71) April 3, 2025Anybody who's ever had meal in Europe knows their food is much better. They don't take our chicken and beef because of the amount of antibiotics.
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) April 3, 2025No...bc the EU has restrictions on what types of pesticides/fertilizers/hormones you use to grow crops, poultry and beef. We use ones they don't allow. We also build cars, like the Ford trucks, that require commercial drivers licenses to drive in Europe that barely fit on their…
— The Last Axeom (@last_axeom) April 3, 2025Increase your food standards, remove additives and hormones and bacteria. Make better cars with improved fuel consumption for the EU market and you will sell more. It’s called capitalism. Make better products that the consumer wants. You guys are supposed to be experts in this.
— Visio Smaragdina (@SmaragdinaVisio) April 3, 2025When in doubt, insult foreign poultry and praise your own. That’ll fix global trade relations.
— Nikos (@NikosReggae) April 3, 2025We Don't Work For Billionaires. We Work For You.
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Hang on, that’s going too far.
American beef is awesome. Some of the best meat I have ever eaten has been in America, hands down.
We don’t hate America, so stop spreading this nonsense. We hate the orange goblin, we hate his lies, we despise his stupidity.
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