Does a video of a grocery meat counter prove the price of rib eye boneless beef has risen to $59.99 a pound in August 2025? No, that’s not true: The video shows a package of A5 Wagyu, which is the highest grade of Japanese beef and is subject to a 25.6% U.S. tariff. American-grown rib roasts were priced between $18 and $33 per pound, depending on quality, on August 17, 2025, according to an online shopping search.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) shared on X on August 17, 2025. It included a video of a package of beef under a caption that read:
Rib Eye Whole Boneless is selling now for $59.99 per pound. 🤯
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
Source: screenshot of X by Lead Stories
A close look at the label shows the video was recorded at a Costco store in Matthews, North Carolina, sometime between the “pack date” of August 6, 2025, and the “sell by” date of August 20, 2025. The 5.8-pound roast was priced at $59.99 per pound for a total cost of $347.94.
Source: screenshot of X by Lead Stories
An American-grown USDA choice boneless black angus prime rib roast could be purchased from the same Costco during the same time period for $32.86 per pound, including delivery fees.
