【By Observer Net, Qi Qian】

According to the Ministry of Commerce website, on December 31, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice, ruling that the increase in imported beef has caused serious damage to China's domestic industry. It will launch a three-year safeguard measure for imported beef to provide relief to the domestic beef industry.

According to the notice, the safeguard measures will be implemented in the form of "country-specific quotas and additional tariffs on imports exceeding the quota." The total import quota for 2026 is 2.7 million tons, with Brazil's share being 1.106 million tons, Argentina at 511,000 tons, Australia at 205,000 tons, and the United States at 164,000 tons.

The Ministry of Commerce stated that starting from January 1, 2026, an additional 55% tariff will be imposed on imported beef exceeding the quota, with the quota increasing year by year.

As soon as this news was released, it immediately drew widespread attention across Australia.

On January 1, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) noted that China's total quota is roughly equivalent to the total import volume of 2.87 million tons in 2024, but the annual quotas for Brazil and Australia are both below the import levels in 2025. In the first 11 months of 2025, Australia exported over 295,000 tons of beef to China. In addition, China has suspended part of the provisions related to beef in the Australia-China Free Trade Agreement.

Australian meat industry warned that this move would lead to a one-third reduction in the country's beef exports to China, causing losses of about 1 billion Australian dollars.

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, Australian media photo

Australian Prime Minister Albanese said the government is communicating with China and emphasized that Australia is not being targeted individually, and the tariff is "comprehensive." He insisted that Australia's beef industry has never been stronger.

Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell criticized China's reasonable and compliant trade measures, claiming to feel "disappointed" about them. He also emphasized that Australian beef does not pose a threat to China's beef industry and expects its status as a free trade agreement partner to be respected.

Australian Agriculture Minister Julie Collins expressed "serious concerns," stating that the government is working with the industry to assess the impact.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC), Tim Ryan, accused China's measures as "restrictive, unfair, and inappropriate," saying they will significantly affect the industry's trade with China, and that the decision seems to "reward other countries that have recently increased their exports to the Chinese market."

According to the institution's estimate, Australia's beef exports to China will decrease by one-third, resulting in losses of about 1 billion Australian dollars (approximately 4.681 billion Chinese yuan).

The CEO of Casino Food Company, an Australian meat processor, Simon Starr, said that while trade restrictions were expected, the details were still surprising. He pointed out, "Clearly, price is key," if Chinese consumers are unwilling to bear the additional costs, Australia will have no choice but to turn to other export markets. However, he also believed that other major exporting countries like Brazil and Argentina are also affected, somewhat "balancing the competitive environment."

Ministry of Commerce

ABC mentioned that Brazil is the world's largest meat exporter, and in 2024, China accounted for 52% of Brazil's beef exports. In the first 11 months of 2025, Brazil exported 1.33 million tons of beef to China, far exceeding the 1.106 million-ton quota for 2026.

According to Reuters, Luis Ruas, secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, responded that there is no need for "panic," and the government can negotiate with China for "compensatory measures," and has the ability to redirect beef exports to other countries.

However, Brazilian industry groups remain concerned. The Brazilian beef lobby group Abiec said that in 2025, China imported about 1.7 million tons of Brazilian beef, accounting for 48% of Brazil's total exports. Another group, Abrafrigo, estimated that export revenue could be lost up to $3 billion in 2026.

The report said that due to the Sino-US trade dispute and the expiration of permits for hundreds of American meat plants, US beef exports to China dropped sharply in 2025, with only 55,000 tons exported in the first 11 months. This figure is lower than the US quota for 2026 (164,000 tons).

On December 31, the Ministry of Commerce announced that the investigation authority ruled that the increase in imported beef has caused serious damage to China's domestic industry, and that there is a causal relationship between the increase in imported products and the serious damage.

In recent years, China's beef imports have shown a sharp increase. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, beef imports rose from 1.66 million tons in 2019 to 2.87 million tons in 2024, an increase of 73.2%. At the same time, because the import price is significantly lower than the domestic industry price by more than 50%, the market share expanded from 20% to 31%, causing serious impact on the domestic cattle industry.

The head of the Department of Trade Remedies of the Ministry of Commerce said that the purpose of implementing safeguard measures on imported beef is to help the domestic industry overcome the current difficulties, not to restrict normal trade. The "country-specific quotas and additional tariffs on imports exceeding the quota" measures are moderate and mild, which not only relieve the domestic industry and provide space for further recovery and development, but also take into account the reasonable demands of trade partners, and try to avoid affecting normal trade as much as possible.

Liu Qiangde, deputy director of the China Animal Husbandry Association, said in an interview that the safeguard measures are expected to have a positive boost on the entire industry, effectively stimulating the confidence of practitioners to return or expand production. Although the substantive recovery of the industry will take some time, this move will lay the foundation for confidence rebuilding and capacity recovery.

This article is exclusive to Observer Net. Without permission, it cannot be reprinted.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7590578633471722026/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.