Organizations in the livestock sector in China have called for urgent measures against beef imports, given the drop in prices and widespread losses on local farms, the official Global Times newspaper reported this Friday, 26th.
According to the newspaper, associations, companies and livestock breeders attribute the collapse in profitability to the increase in the market share of imported meat, which will have caused a drop in cattle prices, losses in breeding farms and an increase in the slaughter of females “to alleviate financial pressures”.
The deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Livestock Association, Liu Qiangde, stated that the sector has been going through a prolonged period of “major losses” since 2024 and called for the adoption of measures “before the end of the year” to protect production and stabilize market expectations.
Quoted by the newspaper, researcher Zhu Zengyong warned that the reduction in the reproductive capacity of cows could result in a shortage of supply for several years, due to the “long production cycle” of cattle compared to pigs or chickens.
The statements come just days before the first anniversary of the start of an investigation by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, launched on December 27, 2024, at the request of national associations, to assess the impact of beef imports on the domestic market.
The survey analyzes import growth between 2019 and 2024 and seeks to determine whether the conditions are met for the imposition of tariffs or other temporary safeguard measures.
According to official data cited at the opening of the process, beef imports increased by 64.9% between 2019 and 2023 and more than 100% in the first half of 2024 compared to 2019, exceeding 30% market share.
The debate is part of a broader context of trade tensions between China and partners such as the European Union, after Beijing imposed tariffs on European pork and dairy products, in response to taxes applied by Brussels to Chinese electric vehicles.
However, any tariffs on imported beef would be general in nature and, in principle, would not directly target the EU, also affecting large exporters such as Brazil, Argentina or Australia.