An Australian meat industry peak body says China's move to impose an added 55 per cent tariff on beef imports that exceed quota levels from several countries including Australia will have a "severe impact" and that it is "extremely disappointed".

China's commerce ministry on Wednesday explained the tariffs, also impacting Brazil and the United States, were designed to protect a domestic cattle industry slowly emerging from oversupply.

Australia exported more than 295,000 tons of beef to China in the first 11 months of 2025 and the Australian Meat Industry Council said the new tariff would cut those exports by a third, costing the Australian industry about $1 billion.

China's commerce ministry said the total import quota for 2026 for countries covered under its new "safeguard measures" is 2.7 million metric tons, roughly in line with the record 2.87 million tons it imported overall in 2024.

The new annual quota levels are set below import levels for the first 11 months of 2025 for top supplier Brazil, as well as for Australia.

"The increase in the amount of imported beef has seriously damaged China's domestic industry," the ministry said, as it announced the measures following an investigation launched in December 2024.

The ministry also said it was suspending part of a free trade agreement with Australia covering beef.

"The implementation of safeguards on imported beef is intended to temporarily help the domestic industry get through difficulties, not to restrict normal beef trade," a spokesperson said in a separate statement.

The measures take effect from January 1, 2026 for three years, with the total quota increasing annually.

Tariffs to have 'severe impact': industry body

The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) chief executive Tim Ryan said the new trade arrangements were restrictive and "not fair, appropriate, or reflective of the long-standing, mutually beneficial trade relationship Australia has with China".

"This decision appears to reward other countries who have surged the volume of beef exported to the Chinese market in recent years," Mr Ryan said.

"This decision will have a severe impact on trade flows to China over the duration of the measures' enforcement, disrupt the longstanding relationships fostered under the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, and restrict the ability for Chinese consumers to access safe and reliable Australian beef,"

he said.

Australia faces a quota of about 200,000 tons and the United States one of 164,000 tons.

For 2026, Brazil has an import quota of 1.1 million tons while Argentina has a cap of roughly half that.

China is an important market for Australian beef.  (ABC Rural: Annie Brown)

Beef imports to China fell 0.3 per cent in the first 11 months of 2025, to 2.59 million tons, according to China's ministry.

Chinese beef imports will decline in 2026 as a result of the measures, said Hongzhi Xu, senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants.

Investigators in China found that beef imports had damaged China's domestic industry, Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement. The probe covered fresh, frozen, bone-in and boneless beef.

Countries have been assigned annual quotas and beef sent to China will be subject to the extra 55 per cent levy if imports go beyond that amount.

The Australian Meat Industry Council is looking at the announcement and the safeguard measures in more detail.

"We will make strong representations on our members' behalf to the Australian and Chinese governments regarding the severe and unnecessary impact of these new measures," Mr Ryan said.

Brazil, the world's largest meat exporter, said on Wednesday it intended to "work with the Chinese government, both bilaterally and within the WTO (World Trade Organization) framework, to mitigate the impact" of the new measure.

The foreign ministry in Brasilia said in a statement that Brazil was the main supplier of beef to China, which accounted for 52 per cent of the South American country's foreign sales of the commodity in 2024.

China's new tariff measures will also impact beef imports from other major suppliers, including Uruguay and New Zealand.

'Price is key'

Simon Stahl, chief executive of northern New South Wales meat processor Casino Food Company, said while the trade restrictions had been "in the pipeline" for some time, he was still surprised by some details.

Mr Stahl, whose company exports beef to China, said it was hard to tell what the impact of the tariff would be.

Simon Stahl says it is too early to say how the tariffs will impact exports. (ABC Rural: Kim Honan)

"Obviously price is key," Mr Stahl told the ABC's NSW Country Hour.

"If the consumer in China isn't prepared to pay for that increase, and we're not going to take a 55 per cent cut on the value of the meat … that will stop some trade, definitely."

If the costs are not picked up by Chinese consumers, Mr Stahl said Australia would look to export beef to other countries.

Other big beef exporters such as Brazil and Argentina would also be subject to the tariff, which would "level the playing field", he added.

Government voices concern

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian government was communicating with China about the new restrictions and "advocating as we usually do".

Mr Albanese added that Australia had not been singled out by China and the tariffs were "across the board".

"The Australian beef industry has never been stronger," he said.

Don Farrell says the government is disappointed about the trade restrictions. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Trade Minister Don Farrell said the Australian government was "disappointed" by China's decision.

"We have made it clear to China that Australian beef is not a risk to their beef sector, and that we expect our status as a valued Free Trade Agreement partner to be respected," Mr Farrell said.

Agricultural Minister Julie Collins said Australian beef was the country's "largest agriculture export commodity".

"That's why we have serious concerns with this decision by China," she said, adding the government was working with the beef industry to determine the implications.

ABC/Reuters/AFP