The "Import Beef Protection Measures Case" is nearing completion, and the industry calls for the implementation of protection measures as soon as possible

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the investigation period for the "Import Beef Protection Measures Case" has been extended to January 26, 2026. The Ministry of Commerce has disclosed the basic facts on which the ruling was based to all stakeholders on December 19, 2025, and the investigation into the case is nearing completion.

What are safeguard measures? According to Tu Xinquan, Dean of the China WTO Research Institute at the University of International Business and Economics, safeguard measures are one of the three trade remedies allowed by the WTO. But there is a big difference between safeguard measures and anti-dumping and anti subsidy measures, which target imports from all countries, rather than imports from specific enterprises or countries. The import increase targeted by safeguard measures refers to the surge in imports caused by unpredictable market conditions, which has caused damage or adverse effects on domestic industries. At this point, the importing country can take temporary trade restrictions such as increasing tariffs or quantity restrictions to reduce imports and gain opportunities for domestic industries to adjust. After a period of time, these temporary trade restrictions can be lifted again.

According to relevant data, China's beef imports have grown sharply. From 2019 to 2024, China's beef imports increased from 1.66 million tons to 2.87 million tons, with a growth rate of 73.2%. The import volume from January to October 2025 is still increasing, with a year-on-year growth of 2.8%.

Liu Qiangde, Deputy Secretary General of the China Animal Husbandry Association, recently stated in a media interview that due to factors such as import shocks, China's beef cattle breeding industry has been deeply losing money for a long time since 2024, and many breeding cows have been slaughtered. Against the backdrop of high imported beef prices, not only the breeding industry, but also the entire supply chain of domestic forage, animal protection products, and downstream beef processing will be affected. It is now a critical moment to introduce safeguard measures.

Zhang Jin, the president of Beijing Xinli Agricultural Machinery Service Professional Cooperative, operates a livestock farm with over 4000 Simmental cattle in the suburbs of Beijing. He admitted to a reporter from The Paper that due to the continuous impact of imported beef, the breeding farm began to experience floating losses from 2023 and fell into a deep loss state for the whole year of 2024. In January 2024, the loss of a single cow reached 4000 to 6000 yuan at one point; The loss situation of the breeding farm in the spring of this year has not been reversed, and it was not until the summer that it achieved a break even point. He said that if the country can quickly introduce safeguard measures for imported beef, effectively reducing the scale of imported beef, the newly introduced batch of calves in the breeding farm is expected to achieve profitability in October next year.

Zhu Zengyong, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, stated in an interview with The Paper that taking safeguard measures for imported products as soon as possible can not only strengthen the safety foundation of the domestic beef cattle industry, but also quickly adjust market supply and demand, and alleviate the impact of excessive imports. On the one hand, this can curb the decline in the number of basic cows and avoid the problem of their population shrinking and requiring 4 to 5 years to recover, which may lead to a significant decline in future production capacity; On the other hand, it can stabilize market prices, reduce losses for breeding and slaughtering enterprises, and help business entities break out of the vicious cycle of "losing money from selling cattle and abandoning breeding". In addition, safeguard measures can also ensure the livelihoods of farmers and herdsmen, and provide a window of opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of the beef cattle industry.

Although the government's introduction of safeguard measures is a temporary solution, it is urgent, especially to fully utilize this window of opportunity and improve our own development system. Zhu Zengyong put forward his own suggestions to the industry: firstly, stabilize the production capacity of cows and build a solid foundation for the industry. Support the expansion and quality improvement of high-quality basic cows, and stabilize basic production capacity. Increase credit insurance policy support, promote live beef cattle mortgage financing, innovate financial products suitable for the characteristics of beef cattle breeding, increase loan disbursement, extend loan terms, and alleviate the financial pressure on breeding entities. The second is to strengthen technological innovation, standardize industry standards, and achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement, and value appreciation. Focusing on tackling the short links in the beef cattle breeding, slaughtering, processing and other industrial chains, promoting high-quality breeds and intelligent breeding technologies, and improving production efficiency; At the same time, relevant standards for aquaculture will be formulated, the national standard for beef quality grading will be revised, the fine segmentation and quality certification of beef will be promoted, domestic beef brands will be cultivated, and the value of the industry chain will be extended.