(Bloomberg) — China is starting a probe into beef imports to decide if a surge in shipments from overseas has hurt the domestic industry, the Ministry of Commerce said Friday.
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The investigation, launched at the request of domestic industry associations, is likely to end within eight months, but may be extended under special circumstances, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
Any safeguard measures taken by the world’s biggest beef buyer may hurt top exporters, such as Brazil, Argentina and Australia. Shares of Brazil’s biggest meat packers, including JBS SA, Marfrig Global Foods SA and Minerva SA, fell on the news.
Imports surged between 2019 and mid-2024, dealing a blow to the domestic industry, groups representing the animal husbandry sector from several top producing regions said in their petitions. China’s beef producers are struggling with huge losses after local prices plunged to multi-year year lows due to oversupply and sluggish consumption.
The latest investigation and any likely action could potentially hurt farmers and producers in Brazil, which accounts for almost half of China’s total beef imports. Even though Brazil has embraced closer ties with Beijing, it has also pushed back against a perceived deluge of cheap exports from China.
Brazil imposed new tariffs on various products from China and other Asian nations in October, including a duty increase on fiber optics and cables, and iron and steel products.
On Friday, the Brazilian Association of Beef Exporters said it was “closely following” the investigation and that it was committed to cooperating with authorities. Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry, Trade Ministry and Foreign Relations Ministry said in a joint statement that the country will seek to demonstrate that its beef exports don’t cause any kind of damage to the Chinese industry, and simply complement local production.
The US Meat Export Federation said it’s aware of the investigation and will be monitoring its progress. Miguel Schiariti, head of Argentine beef industry group Ciccra, said the nation is a much smaller exporter and therefore less likely to be targeted by any potential tariffs from China.
JBS shares fell as much as 2.9% in Sao Paulo, as Marfrig tumbled 7.5% and Minerva 3.1%. China is the biggest market for Brazilian and Argentine beef, the fourth-largest for the US.
Some earlier probes by China against other countries resulted in hefty taxes. It slapped anti-dumping duties in 2020 on Australian barley as diplomatic tensions escalated between the two trading partners.
