BEIJING, China: China will sharply tighten controls on beef imports from 2026, imposing hefty tariffs on shipments that exceed newly set quotas as Beijing moves to protect its domestic cattle industry from cheaper overseas supply.

The commerce ministry said it will levy an additional 55 percent tariff on beef imports from key supplier countries, including Brazil, Australia, and the United States, once shipments exceed specified quota levels. The measures will take effect on January 1, 2026, and remain in force for three years.

Under the new "safeguard measures," China has set a total import quota of about 2.7 million metric tons for 2026 for the affected countries. That figure is broadly in line with the record 2.87 million tons of beef China imported overall in 2024. The quota will rise slightly in 2027 and 2028.

"The increase in the amount of imported beef has seriously damaged China's domestic industry," the ministry said, announcing the outcome of an investigation launched last December. The quotas will increase annually during the three-year period.

China's beef imports slipped marginally in 2025, falling 0.3 percent in the first 11 months of the year to 2.59 million tons, according to official data. Even so, shipments from several major suppliers remain well above the new quota levels.

For 2026, Brazil — China's largest beef supplier — has been allocated a quota of 1.106 million tons, compared with actual shipments of 1.329 million tons in the first 11 months of 2025 alone. Australia's 2026 quota of 205,000 tons is also below its January–November 2025 shipments of nearly 295,000 tons. The United States has been assigned a quota of 164,000 tons, while the measures also cover Argentina, Uruguay, and New Zealand.

In 2024, China imported 1.34 million tons of beef from Brazil, nearly 595,000 tons from Argentina, about 244,000 tons from Uruguay, 216,000 tons from Australia, 150,500 tons from New Zealand, and 138,100 tons from the United States.

Analysts expect the new curbs to weigh on imports next year. Chinese beef imports are likely to decline in 2026 as a direct result of the safeguard measures, said Hongzhi Xu, senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants.

"China's beef-cattle farming is not competitive compared with countries such as Brazil and Argentina. This cannot be reversed in the short term through technological advancements or institutional reforms," Xu said.

Australia's beef shipments to China have risen sharply this year, gaining market share at the expense of U.S. suppliers after Beijing in March allowed permits to expire at hundreds of American meat plants amid a tit-for-tat tariff dispute triggered by President Donald Trump. U.S. beef exports to China totaled just over 55,000 tons in the first 11 months of 2025.

Responding to the announcement, Mark Thomas, chair of the Western Beef Association in Australia, said: "There's plenty of other countries that will take our product."

Chinese officials said the measures are not aimed at any single country. The tariffs are intended to slow the decline in China's breeding cow inventory and give domestic producers time to adjust and upgrade, according to Zengyong Zhu, a research fellow at the Institute of Animal Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Beijing has stepped up policy support for its beef sector this year and said in late November that cattle farming had been profitable for seven consecutive months.

China's move comes amid a global beef shortage that has pushed prices higher in many markets, including to record levels in the United States.