The Ministry of Commerce of China File photo: VCG

China will impose an additional 55 percent tariff on beef imports from Australia starting from June 20 after shipments from the country reached the annual quota under China's safeguard measures, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Friday.

Imports of Australian beef under China's safeguard measures reached 100 percent of the country-specific quota specified in MOFCOM's No. 87 announcement of 2025 as of June 18, 2026, according to a notice issued by the ministry on Friday. 

Under the No. 87 announcement issued on December 31, 2025, once imports reach the specified quantity, an additional tariff of 55 percent will be levied on top of existing duties beginning on the third day after the threshold is hit. As a result, beef imported from Australia will face the additional tariff from June 20.

The move follows an earlier notice issued by MOFCOM on June 2, which said Australian beef imports had reached 90 percent of the annual quota and were nearing the level that would trigger additional tariffs.

China decided to implement safeguard measures on imported beef from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028 following a final ruling in a safeguard investigation launched on December 27, 2024, according to MOFCOM's No.87 announcement.

The measures set country-specific tariff-rate quotas for major suppliers including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia and the US, with imports exceeding the designated quotas subject to an additional 55 percent tariff, according to the announcement.

The total import quota for 2026 for countries covered under the safeguard measures is 2.69 million tons, roughly in line with the record 2.87 million tons it imported overall in 2024.

Since 2023, domestic cattle and beef prices have continued to decline, and rising beef imports have placed considerable pressure on the domestic industry. Against this backdrop, the current policy follows established regulatory practice and should be viewed as a standard trade remedy measure, Zhu Zengyong, a research fellow at the Institute of Animal Science of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

The current beef safeguard measures adopted by China cover major exporting countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Australia and the US, and are implemented under a rules-based framework consistent with global practice, Zhu said, adding that WTO members widely use safeguard measures to regulate agricultural imports.

MOFCOM has also issued safeguard-related notification concerning imports from other major suppliers. On May 10, the ministry said imports of beef from Brazil had reached 50 percent of the annual quota under the safeguard measures as of May 9.

Global Times