Industry says beef will redirect to new markets as China reduces import quota

ABC NEWS (Australia)

China has imposed an additional 55% tariff on beef imports that exceed quota levels, dealing a blow to Australian exporters. China has set its import quota at 2.7 million metric tonnes, which will apply for the next three years. The new annual quota level is below China's import levels for the first 11 months of last year for its main suppliers, Australia and Brazil. Australian exporters have criticised the measure but have differing views on how it will impact the local industry. Tim Ryan is CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council.

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00:00so amic and others have been a party to the investigation that's lasted the last 12 months

00:08throughout that process we've continued to make the case that australian imports or australian

00:15beef imports into china are not the cause of any damage to the domestic industry and that's the

00:19basis for the the investigation and the subsequent measures they've put in place nevertheless with

00:26the announcement overnight we're still caught up in these global measures that will impact and manage

00:31how china imports be from from all parts of the world the challenge for us is the amount of quota

00:37allocated to australia is significantly below what we've been trading into the market over the last

00:4312 months so going forward we are expecting it to really hinder what we will be exporting into china

00:51and going forward to the degree of about a third of what we're currently doing and so what kind of

00:55impact will that have on the australian industry um firstly i suppose as of today we'll continue to

01:02trade into china um but probably within the first six to eight months we'll utilize that allocation

01:09of quota um then there will be a tariff that will kick in after that that will effectively

01:14cease trade i don't think anyone can afford a 55 tax on top of off top on top of the price of beef

01:20um so when that happens we'll then redirect exports to alternative markets and now australia is quite

01:26fortunate to have good access into many markets um but when you redirect trade you're going to your

01:32your second or third best preference so we will see i suppose value eroded throughout that process

01:37um and to put into context china's currently our second largest market so it is a significant

01:42um export destination for our beef i know for most of this year we had hundreds of abattoirs in the u.s

01:49that were unable to export beef to china did that create a gap that australia could fill did we send

01:55more beef there last year i guess last year not this year in 2025 in new 20 yeah certainly that was the

02:02case uh australia is similar to the u.s where we can produce i suppose diversity of beef but particularly

02:08that more premium product uh for instance chilled grain feed beef uh and the u.s was heavily restricted

02:15um in recent times so australia did fill some of that gap uh but it also reflects the broader consumer

02:20demand for australian beef australia has probably got the best um long-lasting reputation and brand

02:27resonance with chinese consumers they love the product um they see it as a safe high quality choice when

02:35they're at the supermarket um so there's that fundamental demand coming from the consumer in

02:39china that's driven a lot of our uh exports over the last few years and so china says they are doing

02:45this to safeguard their own domestic supply but but it's your view that this won't actually that

02:51australian imports won't impact china's domestic supply so much well we've made the case to china's

02:58ministry of commerce that any injury that the domestic industry has um has received in the last

03:07few years hasn't necessarily come from australia there's other supplies into the market and the

03:11south americans account for about 80 percent of beef imports into china and they're the countries that

03:16we have seen a relatively large increase in exports into the market over the last few years

03:22australia has been there for over a decade now uh and has been a relatively stable um supplier into

03:29the market so there hasn't necessarily been a surge from from australia and also the beef that we do send

03:34there is relatively um premium price so there's not the ability for us to undercut their domestic

03:39producers necessarily do you think this step risks doing some damage to the long-term uh trading

03:47relationship that australia and china have yeah it certainly uh i suppose is at odds with the free

03:54trade agreement that was signed um years ago and that's really underpinned commercial relationships

04:00that australian beef exporters have established in the market uh we'll certainly continue to do

04:06business with china but once we hit our uh quota um say middle of the year at some point um the ability

04:13to trade in china will effectively will effectively stop so it'll put pause to those commercial

04:19relationships until the new um year starts in in 2027 so it will really i suppose hinder what we can

04:26do but it certainly won't stop uh australian exporters doing business while they can in the market it has

04:33been a good year for australian beef exports uh there's still good overseas demand elsewhere are you

04:38optimistic about 2026 well i think there's certainly plenty to be optimistic about in terms of overall

04:45consumer demand the world loves our beef products aussie consumers love our beef products as well

04:51but it's certainly a more volatile world although we've got through 2025 relatively unscathed we do rely

04:59on reliable rules-based trade when it comes to doing business and certainly the world's a lot more risky

05:05than it once was um in the past so um this i suppose additional measure that china's implemented

05:13overnight adds a bit of concern um and and also if it is implemented in combination with other

05:19disruptions on the global market it could have a far greater effect

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