At the request of officials from its faltering domestic cattle industry, China’s commerce ministry announced Friday it has opened a probe into imported beef.
Analysts attribute the recent decline in the local price of beef in China to both overstock and a lack of demand as the second-largest economy in the world has slowed.
China is a very significant market for nations like Brazil, Argentina, and Australia, and imports have increased at the same time.
The trade ministry said in a statement that the recent rapid rise in beef imports “has had a significant adverse impact on the domestic industry” in response to domestic groups’ appeal for a probe.
The farmers were reported as stating that imports of beef increased by 65% in 2023 compared with 2019.
The notification stated that the probe “may be extended appropriately under special circumstances” and that it will begin on Friday and should last eight months.
Normal operations will continue as usual while the investigation is underway.
Brazil, the largest supplier of beef worldwide, stated that it “will seek to demonstrate that Brazilian beef exported to China does not cause any type of harm to the Chinese industry, and is, on the contrary, an important factor in complementing local Chinese production.”
The ministry of foreign affairs stated that, “in principle, no preliminary measures will be adopted, and the 12 percent ‘ad valorem’ tariff that China applies to beef imports will remain in force.”
Brazil’s statement said that China, its main trading partner, this year received more than one million tonnes of Brazilian beef, a 12.7 percent increase over last year.
It added that it was committed to defending Brazil’s agribusiness sector and was “always seeking constructive dialogue in search of mutually beneficial solutions” with China.
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