Under Trump, US cedes share of China beef market to Australia

Australian beef has replaced US supply in China since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, funnelling hundreds of millions of dollars that have in previous years gone to the US cattle industry into Australian pockets.

- PETER HOBSON TOM POLANSEK

Packs of frozen beef rib rolls imported from US at a supermarket in Beijing in April.

(REUTERS)

US shipments to China, worth around $120 million a month, collapsed after Beijing in March allowed permits to expire at hundreds of American meat facilities and as Trump unleashed a tit-for-tat tariff war.

Other US farm exports to China, the world’s biggest food importer, have also suffered since Trump retook power. On soybeans alone, US farmers have lost out on shipments worth billions of dollars during the current harvest season.

US beef exports have in general declined in recent years as drought shrank the country’s cattle herd, reducing production and pushing prices to record highs. But the drop in trade with China has been far more sudden and extreme.