June export figures highlight US beef’s China problems
In the first six months of 2025, packers and traders in the US exported just over 600,000 tonnes of beef, bringing in revenues of $4.9 billion. These figures represent declines of 6.5% in volume and of 6% in value.
Figures for June alone show a fall in beef exports of 15% in volume year on year and a decline of 18% in value. The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) said June’s export value for beef, $769 million, was the lowest in 17 months.
USMEF said gains in Central and South America, as well as in a number of emerging markets in Africa, could not offset “the steep decline in exports to China”.
President of the organisation, Greg Halstrom, said the main difficulty with the Chinese markets is that only a few packer plants in the US are authorised to ship product to China.
An agreement the two countries reached in 2020 should have made it easier and faster for more meat packing plants in the US to gain this authorisation, but with trade tensions showing no sign of easing, progress has halted.
“The June export results really underscore the urgent need to resolve this impasse with China,” Mr Halstrom said. “China’s tariff rate on US beef is currently 32%, which is too high, but not insurmountable. The problem is, with only a few plants eligible to ship to China, the tariff rate becomes irrelevant.”
