American beef lovers may face even leaner plates and higher prices next year as US production shrinks to a decade low and tariffs limit imports, according to a US government projection.

Total beef supply in the US is expected to drop 2.5% in 2026 to 31.1 billion pounds — the lowest since 2019 — the US Department of Agriculture said in a monthly report. The decline threatens to push record beef prices even higher, with tariffs limiting importers’ ability to soften the blow.

US beef supplies have been constrained by a shrinking herd. For years, ranchers have been culling cows due to a combination of persistent drought and high costs, reducing the domestic inventory to its lowest level in several decades.

GE shifting more production to US

GE Appliances plans to shift production of refrigerators, gas ranges and water heaters out of China and Mexico as part of a more than $3 billion investment to expand its U.S. operations in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.

The investment — the second-largest in the Louisville-based company’s history — is expected to add more than 1,000 jobs while ramping up domestic production and modernizing plants in the next five years.

“Our long-term strategy is about manufacturing close to our customers,” said CEO Kevin Nolan.

“With lean manufacturing, upskilling our workforce and automation, the math works for manufacturing in the United States.”

The majority of GE Appliances’ production is already in the U.S. and the shift means only that the company will transfer more work to its domestic plants.

GE Appliances will relocate production of gas ranges from Mexico to a plant in Georgia, while six refrigerator models now made in China will be manufactured at its Alabama plant, the company said.