Australian beef producers mentioned they have been “extraordinarily disenchanted” after China introduced a 55% tariff on imports that exceed quota ranges in a transfer to guard a home cattle business slowly rising from oversupply.
China’s commerce ministry mentioned on Wednesday the entire import quota for 2026 for Australia and different nations corresponding to Brazil and the US lined below its new “safeguard measures” is 2.7m metric tons, roughly consistent with the document 2.87m tons it imported total in 2024.
The brand new annual quota ranges are set under import ranges for the primary 11 months of 2025 for Australia in addition to its prime provider, Brazil.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
“The rise within the quantity of imported beef has severely broken China’s home business,” the ministry mentioned in saying the measure after an investigation launched final December.
The measure takes impact on 1 January for 3 years, with the entire quota rising yearly.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, mentioned Australia was speaking with China over the transfer, however downplayed the potential impression on the native beef business.
“That is one thing that wasn’t Australia being singled out … this can be a basic place that China has put,” Albanese mentioned on Thursday.
“We’re advocating, as we all the time do, for Australian business.
“Australian beef is, for my part, proudly, because the Australian prime minister, the very best on this planet. We compete on this planet very effectively, and our merchandise are in nice demand proper all over the world. We count on that may proceed to be so. The Australian beef business has by no means been stronger than it’s at present.”
However beef producers reacted angrily to the information, with the Australian Meat Trade Council (AMIC) describing the measures as extraordinarily disappointing”.
The tariffs have been neither truthful not applicable, the AMIC chief govt, Tim Ryan, mentioned, and weren’t reflective of the “long-standing, mutually helpful commerce relationship Australia has with China”.
“This resolution seems to reward different nations who’ve surged the amount of beef exported to the Chinese language market lately,” Ryan mentioned.
“This resolution may have a extreme impression on commerce flows to China over the length of the measures’ enforcement, disrupt the longstanding relationships fostered below the China-Australia Free Commerce Settlement and prohibit the flexibility for Chinese language customers to entry protected and dependable Australian beef.”
Beef imports to China fell 0.3% within the first 11 months of this 12 months to 2.59 million tons. Chinese language beef imports will decline in 2026 because of the measures, mentioned Hongzhi Xu, senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants.
“China’s beef-cattle farming is just not aggressive in contrast with nations corresponding to Brazil and Argentina,” Xu mentioned. “This can’t be reversed within the brief time period via technological developments or institutional reforms.”
In 2024, China imported 1.34 million tons of beef from Brazil, 594,567 tons from Argentina, 243,662 tons from Uruguay, 216,050 tons from Australia, 150,514 tons from New Zealand and 138,112 tons from the U.S.
Within the first 11 months of this 12 months, Brazil shipped 1.33 million tons of beef to China, in line with Chinese language customs information, effectively above the quota ranges set below Beijing’s new measures.
Additionally this 12 months, Australian shipments to China have surged, gaining share on the expense of US beef after Beijing in March allowed permits to run out at a whole lot of American meat crops and as Donald Trump unleashed a tit-for-tat tariff battle.
Responding to Beijing’s announcement, Mark Thomas, the chair of the Western Beef Affiliation in Australia, mentioned: “There’s loads of different nations that may take our product.”
