China has launched an investigation that could lead to steep tariffs on imported beef, threatening one of the fastest growing overseas markets for American cattle producers.
The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to impose a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese goods after he takes office, spawning fears of another tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
China and many other countries shut their market to U.S. beef in the early 2000s after several cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy were detected in the U.S. cattle herd.
Years of efforts to reopen the market led to an agreement early in Trump’s first administration. Since then, U.S. exports of fresh, chilled and frozen beef products to China have soared from zero in 2016 to nearly $1.5 billion in 2023.
