By Daphne Zhang and Liz Lee
BEIJING, Sept 30 (Reuters) – China will collect an additional 55% tariff on beef imports from Brazil beginning on October 1, on top of the current applicable rate, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
• China in January said it would impose an added 55% tariff on beef imports that exceed quota levels from key suppliers, including Brazil, in a move to protect its domestic cattle industry.
• China, the largest buyer of Brazilian beef, established a 1.1 million metric ton quota for Brazil this year.
• Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said last week that Uruguay had authorized Brazil to use the surplus from its beef export quota to China.
• But China has not agreed to allow Brazil to use Uruguay’s export quota this year or next year, according to industry insiders.
• Industry insiders have told Reuters that even if Brazil directly reaches an agreement with other countries over their unused beef export volumes, China is unlikely to agree to it.
• Reuters reported in May that Beijing had rejected Brazil’s repeated lobbying China to relax and reallocate the quotas to allow Brazil to use other countries’ extra export volumes.
• China’s Commerce Ministry has not publicly commented on Brazil’s requests.
• All eyes are on whether China will renew its beef export quota system for 2027 by year-end.
• Brazil’s total beef export volumes are expected to drop 10% year-on-year in 2026, industry group Abiec estimated earlier this year, amid restrictions imposed by Beijing and a recent curb on Brazilian meat exports to the European Union.
(Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Liz Lee, and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue and Lincoln Feast.)
