China crisis leaves US beef exports at their lowest since 2020
Exports of beef from the US in September 2025 were the lowest the industry has recorded in more than five years.
Reports of the figures for September were delayed by the US government shutdown. When the numbers came out in mid-December, they showed that exports of beef for the month reached 80,835 tonnes in volume. The US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) said this represented a fall of 22% year on year and was the lowest monthly total since June 2020.
The value of September’s shipments this year was $660.9 million, also down by 22% and the lowest monthly figure since February 2021.
In the first nine months of 2025, US beef exports reached a total volume of 856,023 tonnes, with a total value of just over $7 billion. These figures represent declines of 11% and 10% respectively.
USMEF expressed particular concern about exports of beef to China. It said shipments of US beef to China had “effectively halted” in September. The total volume was 556 tonnes, a fall of 96% year on year. In revenue terms, these exports brought in $2.5 million, down by 98%.
The meat promotions organisation said there had been “tremendous benefits” for US beef from a trade agreement the US negotiated with China during the first Trump presidency.
Thanks to this, it pointed out, the value of beef exports to China increased from $300 million in 2020 to $2.1 billion in 2022.
China is no longer adhering to the terms of that agreement, USMEF said. It has refused to renew registrations for US beef plants and cold storage facilities, “effectively closing the China market for US beef”.
Its estimate is that the US beef industry is losing the equivalent of $150 per head of slaughtered cattle from its lack of access to China.
