Overview
- Starting Jan. 1, 2026 through Dec. 31, 2028, China will apply annual country quotas to beef imports and levy an additional 55% tariff on volumes that exceed those limits.
- Within-quota shipments keep existing duties (Argentina pays 12.5%), and unused allocations cannot be carried over to the next year.
- Key 2026 allocations include Brazil at about 1.1 million tonnes, Argentina 511,000, Uruguay 324,000, Australia 200,000 and the U.S. 164,000, with gradual increases planned each year.
- Chinese authorities indicated a total 2026 import quota near 2.7 million tonnes, slightly below the 2024 record, and confirmed the safeguards will expand quotas incrementally through 2028.
- For Argentina the quota broadly matches recent exports, limiting immediate disruption but capping growth, while Brazil faces the most pressing adjustment; China also suspended certain FTA safeguard mechanisms related to Australian beef.