China slaps 55% tariff on Brazilian beef, rebuffs bid to borrow Uruguay’s quota

China will charge an extra 55 per cent tariff on Brazilian beef from Thursday after Brazil filled its import quota for the year and has not agreed to let Brazilian exporters use the unfilled quota of neighbouring Uruguay, industry sources said.The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced the surtax on Wednesday, a day after China’s customs administration confirmed that Brazil had used all of its 1.106 million-tonne allowance for 2026, and under the rules the extra tariff applies from the third day after a country reaches its limit.Beef above the quota will now pay 67 per cent, including the regular 12 per cent import duty, a level exporters consider too high to keep selling.With the quota exhausted, Brazil is effectively shut out of its biggest beef market for the rest of the year.