Early tariff impacts on beef exports

By David Anderson, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Specialist, Livestock and Food Product Marketing
Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University

It’s been about six weeks since U.S. tariffs and retaliatory tariffs were announced, impacting beef. One of the reasons the beef trade market is so interesting is that the United States both imports and exports beef. The mix of products varies by country, including muscle cuts, trimmings, variety meats, and hides. Even though tariff levels continue to fluctuate, enough time has passed to begin to see some impacts on beef exports to one market in particular: China.

Weekly fresh and frozen beef muscle cut export data is available through the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. The data is reported for a large number of countries and can be aggregated to regions.  U.S. exports to China averaged 2,420 metric tons per week during the first quarter of 2025. Following the announcements of tariffs and retaliation, exports dropped dramatically to only 17 metric tons for the week of May 8.… Continue reading