US beef exports fall as China market remains closed - USMEF

22 April 2026

1 minute read

By: Melanie Epp

US beef exports trended lower, due in large part to continued lack of access to China, shipments of beef variety meat posted another strong increase, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF). February was a robust month for per-head export value with beef exports reaching nearly $423 per head of fed slaughter. 

February beef exports totalled 85,066 mt, down 13% year-over-year, while value fell 10% to $722.7 million. Much of this gap was due to China’s lockout of US beef, though February shipments were also below last year to Korea, Japan and Canada. Exports increased year-over-year to Mexico, Taiwan, the Caribbean and South America, while demand was steady in the Middle East and Central America. Excluding China, February exports were 4% higher in value and just 1% below last year’s volume.

The February totals included 24,081 mt of beef variety meat, up 12% from a year ago, while the value of these shipments soared 40% to $106 million.

"Beef variety meat exports continue to trend higher, especially on the value side, and that makes such an important contribution to the value of every animal," said USMEF president and CEO Dan Halstrom. "Where US beef has access, muscle cut demand has held up well and provides a great complement to our robust domestic market. But for beef variety meats, export markets are really the whole ball game, so it’s great to see these products achieve broad-based growth."

Through the first two months of 2026, beef and beef variety meat exports were 12% below last year’s pace in volume (177,624 mt) and 6% lower in value ($1.5 billion). Excluding China from these results, exports increased 2% to 175,915 mt, while value was 10% higher at $1.49 billion.

January-February exports of beef variety meat increased 9% from a year ago to 51,592 mt, while export value climbed 43% to $232 million.