@Zardoz I was under the impression the primary problem in the beef industry (at least in regards to regulated grocery stores) was the 4-company beef packing bottleneck, not the overall herd size. Herd size dropping was a result of being squeezed out of business by the oligarchy over packing, wasn't it? Flooding the market with foreign beef is only going to make the problem worse as the margins get worse both for packers and ranchers.

Maybe theoretically it leads to a situation where american cows butchered simply aren't turned into ground beef and so we end up with more high-quality/exotic cuts being available at a reduced price, since there's zero money for them in ground beef? That's the most optimistic spin I can think of, but I'm not sure it's very realistic