Brazil’s beef exports to U.S. start year at record pace

Brazilian beef exports to the United States started this year at a record pace. In just the five days between January 2nd and 6th, the 52,000-tonne duty-free quota was fully filled, according to the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec). After the quota is fulfilled, the surplus is taxed at 26.4%. Abiec forecasts that shipments will exceed 400,000 tonnes in 2026.

“The U.S. is a potential market to reach 400,000 [tonnes] or even more this year. That was our forecast for 2025 before the tariff hike [imposed by the Trump administration], but we closed [the year] with 271,000 tonnes,” said Roberto Perosa, president of Abiec. The estimate is that January exports will reach 35,000 tonnes over the quota and that the monthly average for the year will be close to 40,000 tonnes.

The quota for beef exports by Brazilian meatpackers was reduced in 2026. Previously, it was 65,000 tonnes, shared with other countries. The U.S .transferred 13,000 tonnes to the UK, resulting in a total of 52,000 tonnes, which Brazil fulfilled in the first six days of January.

“The American quota is small. We can’t let this [rapid depletion] happen with China, otherwise there will be a big effect on livestock farming. China has a lot of impact, so the idea is that there will be government control of shipments,” Perosa said. The sector estimates that part of the 500,000 tonnes that will no longer be shipped to the Chinese in 2026 will be redirected to the American market.

The information on the filling of the quota was confirmed by the weekly report of the U.S .Customs and Border Protection Service (CBP), released on Monday (12) night. Last year, Brazil filled the quota, which was then 65,000 tonnes, on January 17. In 2024, this only occurred in March.

See below the monthly shipments of Brazilian beef to the United States, measured in TEUs, from January 2022 to November 2025, according to Datamar data.

Brazilian Beef Exports to the United States | 2022–2025 | TEUs

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The additional 350,000 tonnes that Brazil expects to send to the U.S. by the end of the year will be taxed at 26.4%. This makes Brazilian products less competitive than shipments from Australia, for example. Americans and Australians have a free trade agreement for a quota of 378,200 tonnes annually. Less than 3% of that volume had been used by January 12, with exports of 10,600 tonnes over this period.

Argentina has filled just over 2.5% of its 20,000-tonne quota in 2026, with shipments of 510.5 tonnes so far. New Zealand exported 5,100 tonnes to the U.S., 2.4% of its annual quota of 213,400 tonnes. Meatpackers operating in Uruguay have used only 1.5% of this year’s 20,000-tonne quota, with shipments of 297.1 tonnes.

The United Kingdom, which was appointed a quota of 13,000 tonnes previously set for Brazil, will not export beef to the U.S. in 2026, according to the most recent CBP report.

Reproduction from Valor International; adaptation by DatamarNews

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