Mexico has surpassed the U.S. as the second largest importer of Brazilian beef since President Trump imposed a stiff additional tariff on many imports from Brazil, the Brazilian beef lobby, ABIEC, said on Wednesday. The group estimated Brazil’s August 1-25 exports to Mexico at 10,200 metric tons, with exports to the U.S. totaling 7,800 tons. Mexico has been a growing market for Brazilian beef this year, with January-July shipments to Mexico nearly triple a year earlier. Brazilian beef, which was already subject to a U.S. import tax of 26.4% outside of a duty-free quota, now faces an additional 50% tariff.
Some of the beef Brazil is now exporting to Mexico may wind up in the U.S., though, as the U.S. tariffs restructure world beef trade. The U.S. is likely to import more beef from origins such as Australia and Mexico, while Brazil may export more into markets that have traditionally imported Australian and U.S. beef. “It is very likely that countries that can triangulate Brazilian beef will increase their purchases following Mexico’s example,” Mauricio Nogueira, director of Brazilian livestock consultancy Athenagro, told Reuters News Service in an interview. “If Mexico starts sending beef to the U.S., it will have to buy from someone, it will have to buy from here.” Argentina would be another candidate to import and eventually re-export Brazilian beef to the U.S., he added.
