Brazil’s beef exporters are waiting for a diplomatic solution after China’s safeguard measures sharply raised the cost of selling Brazilian beef into the country. The head of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (Abiec) said there are currently no negotiations between Brasília and Beijing to change the quotas, according to single-source reporting from CNN Brasil.
Roberto Perosa, Abiec’s president, made the remarks during an event at Biogénesis Bagó’s industrial unit in Garín, Argentina. Abiec represents Brazilian meat-exporting companies, a sector for which China had been the main foreign buyer.
What China Changed
China announced the safeguard measures in December 2025 after completing an investigation into rising beef imports and their effects on local cattle producers. Beijing set an annual quota of 1.106 million metric tons for Brazilian beef imports.
Shipments above that volume face an additional tariff of 55%. That surcharge comes on top of an existing 12% import tariff, bringing the total tax burden on excess Brazilian beef shipments to 67%.
Brazil exhausted the quota earlier this month, CNN Brasil reported. As a result, all shipments above the limit now face the higher tariff level.
"The news coming from China and from the Chinese government is not of any kind of negotiation. We always wait for negotiations between governments, and at this moment there are none," Perosa said, according to CNN Brasil.
Why It Matters
For Brazilian exporters, the new tariff level changes the economics of their largest market. Abiec says the current tax burden makes shipments to China economically unviable under the new conditions.
China had accounted for more than half of Brazil’s beef exports, according to the association. That concentration means a sustained restriction in the Chinese market can force exporters to redirect large volumes of meat elsewhere.
Perosa said the sector expects to live with the safeguard regime for the next three years under the rules adopted by Beijing, although the measures may be reviewed during that period. Any change, Abiec argues, will depend on government-to-government negotiations.
Domestic Impact
A reduction in shipments to China could increase beef availability inside Brazil. In the short term, Abiec expects that additional supply to put pressure on cattle prices and wholesale beef prices.
The association also says that effect may be temporary. Exporters are expected to step up efforts to find new markets or expand sales in countries that already buy Brazilian beef.
For now, the sector is operating under the conditions imposed by China. Without talks between the two governments, Brazil’s beef exporters must absorb the tariff shock, redirect production where possible and wait for a possible review of the safeguards.