Protect American Beef Act.
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Protect American Beef Act
This bill expands presidential trade authorities by allowing for a reciprocal trade agreement between the United States and Australia with respect to Wagyu beef.
The bill allows the President, in certain circumstances, to (1) negotiate with Australia for tariff reductions on exported Wagyu beef, or (2) impose additional duties on imported Wagyu beef. Specifically, the President may take these actions if it is determined that Australia (1) when importing Wagyu beef from the United States, applies a higher rate of duty on Wagyu beef than the rate imposed by the United States when the Wagyu beef is imported from Australia; or (2) similarly imposes other, nontariff trade restrictions on that Wagyu beef.
The President must terminate a rate of duty increase under this bill if Australia no longer applies such higher rates or nontariff trade restrictions, or if the higher rate is no longer in the interest of the United States.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 26, 2025. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 26, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) introduced it on March 26, 2025. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 26, 2025, 533 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 533 days ago, on March 26, 2025.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 119th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2027 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers