Some folks in China may have a beef with President Trump's recent visit to the Middle Kingdom. No, not that kind of beef; the kind you put on your plate, and hence into your stomach. On that recent China trip, the Americans struck a trade deal, and now, according to an X post from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, China will be importing the best beef in the world, American beef.
Proud to confirm that our deal-maker-in-chief @POTUS has done it AGAIN! 🇺🇸🥩🤝
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) May 16, 2026
American beef — the best beef in the world! — will be back on the shelves in China soon. They are implementing beef commitments, including resuming imports from 17 states.
This means restoring up to…
The post reads:
Proud to confirm that our deal-maker-in-chief @POTUS has done it AGAIN! 🇺🇸🥩🤝
American beef — the best beef in the world! — will be back on the shelves in China soon. They are implementing beef commitments, including resuming imports from 17 states.
This means restoring up to $165 per head in added value for exports for our cattle ranchers. Mostly variety cuts like hoofs and tongues that Americans don’t prefer to consume.
This builds on our work @USDA and @Interior to provide the certainty that ranchers need to grow the domestic beef herd. This is critical because the herd size has given historic lows in recent years.
Thank you to our great President, alongside our amazing chief negotiators @USTradeRep and @SecScottBessent for putting our farmers and ranchers FIRST.
What a WIN-WIN for ranchers, and ultimately consumers.
What does that mean in actual numbers?
More than 400 US beef plants lost the ability to ship to China over the past year because their export permissions, granted between March 2020 and April 2021, simply expired without renewal.
That accounts for roughly 65% of all once-registered US beef facilities, which means the shutdown wasn't an active ban so much as a slow leak that hit the entire industry.
US beef exports to China collapsed as a result, with volume falling 48% from 2024 and dollar value dropping 69%, according to the US Meat Export Federation. The 2022 peak of $1.7 billion in beef exports to China has fallen to roughly $500 million last year.
Much of that will, presumably, be coming back now.
Despite the Trump EO Efforts to Combat High Meat Prices, American Beef Needs to Be Made Great Again
The question is, how will this affect American beef prices, which are still nearly at pre-Trump, pre-trade-deal levels? Well, that remains to be seen, but if American ranchers start upping their production, as beef ranching becomes profitable again, then local supply should start increasing as well, which is good for American consumers. If the prices of our steaks and cheeseburgers come down accordingly, that's a significant feather in the Trump administration's cap.
Trade deals with China are good, too, at least to the point that people and nations alike are loath to start lobbing brickbats at each other if they are in business together. How much that applies to China right now, that's another question. In the meantime, though, American cattle ranchers have reason for a little optimism. And consumers, as well, and I'll remember that when I consume my weekly bacon cheeseburger at the lodge.
This seems appropriate.
[Editor's Note: As it's Saturday, this could also be fitting. Enjoy, my fellow Gen Xers!]
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