U.S. Tariffs Prompt Brazilian Meatpackers to Reassess Beef Exports, Says ABIEC

Brazilian meatpackers are evaluating whether to continue shipping beef to the United States after President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods last week, Roberto Perosa, president of the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC), told Reuters on Tuesday (15).

The U.S. is Brazil’s second-largest market for beef, following China, which remains the country’s top importer of the commodity, according to trade data. “New shipments are under review by the private sector due to the tariff hike,” Perosa said.

The announcement of the tariffs impacted Brazil’s beef sector last week and into Monday, with companies sharply reducing cattle purchases amid uncertainty surrounding the new trade measure, said Alcides Torres, a beef market analyst at Scot Consultoria. “The market has cooled,” Torres stated.

Brazil accounts for approximately 23% of U.S. beef imports, according to estimates from Genial Investimentos. Since Trump’s announcement, meatpackers have been working to reschedule and redirect shipments and production, Perosa said last week, noting that some companies have already decided to halt production intended for the U.S. market temporarily.

Minerva, one of Brazil’s largest meat processors, generates about 5% of its net revenue from beef exports to the U.S., the company reported after Trump’s announcement that the new tariff would take effect on August 1.

Following the release of Minerva’s Q1 earnings in May, Genial noted that the company had “slaughtered a significant volume of cattle and transferred the beef in advance to facilities in the U.S. to mitigate the risk of additional tariffs.”

The company declined to comment. A recent shortage of cattle in the U.S. has driven increased demand for Brazilian beef, trade data shows. Analysts warn the new tariff could make beef more expensive for U.S. consumers.

Source: Forbes

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