China has launched a probe into beef imports in a move Beijing said is aimed at protecting its domestic meatpacking industry.
Shares of Brazil’s JBS, the world’s biggest meat company, and its local peers Minerva and Marfrig, slumped on the news which was announced by China’s Ministry of Commerce on 27 December.
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Xinhua, China’s state-controlled news agency, quoting the ministry, said the probe has been launched in response to an application submitted by the China Animal Agriculture Association and nine industry associations from major beef-producing regions on behalf of the domestic beef industry.
The investigation will determine whether a surge in shipments from overseas has hurt the domestic industry.
It will examine bovine meat imported from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2024. The probe is expected to conclude within eight months, although it “may be extended under special circumstances”.
Xinhua quoted a ministry spokesperson as saying normal trade will not be affected during the investigation period.
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By GlobalDataResponding to the news of the investigation in a statement, the Brazilian government said that “in conjunction with the export sector, [it] will try to demonstrate that Brazilian beef exported to China does not cause any harm to the Chinese industry”.
China is the world’s largest beef buyer with imports up by more than 70% since 2019 according to the US Department of Agriculture, and any protectionist measures will hurt major exporters from Brazil and the US, as well as the likes of Argentina and Australia.
Brazil accounts for almost half of China’s total beef imports.
In 2024, Brazilian beef exports to China reached more than 1 million tons, representing an increase of 12.7% compared to the same period in 2023, according to Brazil’s government.
In April, JBS announced it was investing 150m reais ($28.3m at the time) to double processing capacity at its domestic Campo Grande II facility after it was approved by the Chinese government to export beef to the Asian country.
It said the investment would allow it to process 4,400 animals daily within a year from 2,200, while the number of employees would increase from 2,300 to 4,600.
In its announcement of the probe, reported by Xinhua, China’s Ministry of Commerce described it as a “safeguard investigation”.
It said it was investigating applicants’ claims that the import volume of beef saw a sharp increase in recent years, growing 106.28% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019.
“The applicants assert that the sharp increase has significantly impacted China’s domestic industry. The domestic industry has experienced substantial damage, and a causal relationship exists between the import volume increase and that substantial damage, they say,” it said.
The ministry said it was following legal procedures and World Trade Organization rules that say investigatory authorities can initiate a safeguard investigation upon the application of a domestic industry if an increase in the import volume of a product causes or threatens to cause substantial damage to the domestic industry producing similar or directly competing products.
In August, China announced it had launched an investigation into subsidies linked to dairy imports from the EU in what was widely interpreted as the latest tit-for-tat in an ongoing trade spat.
