Brazil reevaluates US beef exports after tariff shock
Meatpackers halt shipments as 50% duty chills market
16 July 2025
2 minute read
By: Brazilian meatpackers are weighing whether to make new shipments of beef products to the United States after President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on Brazil last week, Reuters reported, citing Roberto Perosa, president of Brazilian beef lobby ABIEC, as its source.
The United States is Brazil's second most important beef products market after China, according to trade data.
"New shipments are under analysis by the private sector due to the increase in tariffs," Perosa said on Tuesday.
The announcement of the tariffs affected Brazil's cattle market last week and on Monday, with companies sharply reducing purchases of animals because of the uncertainty related to the tariff announcement, said Alcides Torres, a beef market consultant with Scot Consultoria.
"The market turned cold," Torres said.
Brazil, the world's largest beef exporter, accounts for some 23% of US beef imports, according to calculations by Genial Investimentos.
Since Trump's announcement, meatpackers have been scrambling to reschedule and redirect shipments and production, Perosa said last week, noting that some companies had already decided to temporarily halt production destined for the United States.
Beef packer Minerva, one of the hardest hit in Brazil, derives around 5% of its net revenue from beef sales to the US, the company said after the announcement of the new US tariff, effective August 1.
Following the release of Minerva's first-quarter results in May, Genial said that the company had "slaughtered a considerable volume of cattle and transferred meat in advance to facilities in the US to mitigate risks from additional tariffs."
Minerva declined to comment.
A persistent shortage of cattle in the US increased the country's demand for Brazilian beef imports, trade data shows. According to analysts, the new tariff could make beef more expensive for US consumers.
