Chinese officials announced that an additional 55 percent tariff will be imposed on Brazilian beef imports, effective Oct. 1.
The South American country has exceeded its annual quota for imported beef of 1.1 million metric tons, the Chinese commerce ministry said Wednesday.
The additional tariff comes on top of the existing 12 percent import tariff, raising the total duty on Brazilian beef shipments to 67 percent.
Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, and China has been its largest overseas market since 2009. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China last year accounted for nearly half of Brazil’s beef exports.
Chinese Communist Party officials introduced the tariff-rate quota mechanism in January as a measure designed to protect local farmers and producers from rising imports. It applies to all eligible suppliers operating under China’s beef import quota system, including Brazil, Australia, the United States, Argentina, Uruguay, and New Zealand.
Under the policy, imports within each country’s annual allocation continue to pay the normal tariff, while shipments above the quota are subject to an additional 55 percent duty.
Australia received a quota of 205,000 tons in 2026, slightly above New Zealand’s allocation, positioning it as a mid-tier supplier, but still well behind Brazil and Argentina under the new system.
The United States received a relatively small quota, at 164,000 tons in 2026.
Brazil reached its allocated quota on Tuesday, triggering the higher tariff from Oct. 1.
Brazil had attempted to soften the impact of the quota limit by seeking access to unused allocations held by other exporting countries.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said last week that Uruguay had authorized Brazil to use part of Uruguay’s unused beef export quota to China.
China’s Ministry of Commerce has not publicly commented on Brazil’s requests regarding quota transfers.
Meanwhile, market participants are closely monitoring whether Beijing renews the safeguard measures for 2027 before the end of the year.
S&P Global Commodity Insights reported on Sept. 7 that China has already established future quota volumes under the current framework, setting Brazil’s allocation at 1.13 million metric tons for 2027 and 1.15 million metric tons for 2028.
The report said market participants were already testing prices and evaluating the feasibility of forward sales under the 2027 quota, although a wide gap between buyers’ and sellers’ expectations was limiting new business.
The Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, known as ABIEC, has estimated that the country’s total beef exports will fall by about 10 percent in 2026 compared with the previous year.
ABIEC attributed the expected decline to China’s safeguard tariffs and the European Union’s restrictions on Brazilian animal product imports, which Brussels introduced over concerns about compliance with its rules on antimicrobial substances used in livestock production.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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