By Daphne Zhang and Liz Lee
BEIJING, Sept 30 (Reuters) – China will start collecting from October 1 an additional 55% tariff on beef imports from Brazil that exceed its quota for the year, on top of a current 12% rate, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
• China unveiled the added tariff, applicable to all suppliers, in January to protect its domestic cattle industry
• The duty adds to the standard import tariff of 12%, taking to 67% Brazil’s total import duty on all shipments surpassing its quota of 1.1 million metric tons this year
• China, the largest buyer of Brazilian beef, fixed the quota this year
• Uruguay had authorised Brazil to use the surplus from its beef export quota to China, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said last week
• But industry insiders say China has not agreed to allow Brazil to use Uruguay’s export quota this year or the next
• Even if Brazil directly reached agreement with other countries over unused beef export volumes, China was unlikely to agree, the industry sources told Reuters
• In May, Reuters reported Beijing had rejected Brazil’s repeated lobbying attempts to allow such use
• 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% in 2026 on the year, industry group Abiec has estimated, amid curbs by Beijing and a similar recent move by the European Union
(Reporting by Daphne Zhang, Liz Lee, and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Tom Hogue, Lincoln Feast and Clarence Fernandez)
