China renews expired export licenses for US beef plants, Chinese customs website shows

China renewed export licenses that had expired for more than 400 US beef plants, the Chinese customs website showed on Friday (May 15), after President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping concluded their summit in Beijing.

A casualty of the recent trade war between Beijing and Washington, US beef exports to China peaked at US$1.7 billion (S$2.2 billion) in 2022.

More than 400 US plants lost export eligibility over the past year as Beijing's permissions, granted between March 2020 and April 2021, lapsed without the customary renewals, accounting for roughly 65 per cent of the once-registered facilities.

"China's renewal of US beef establishments is excellent news for the US beef industry and for the customers in China who are anxious to resume purchases," said Dan Halstrom, CEO of the US Meat Export Federation, an industry group.

The federation confirmed China granted five-year registration extensions to 425 overdue US beef plants and new five-year registrations for 77 additional US facilities.

The White House told ranchers in recent weeks that export licenses would be discussed at the summit.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the long-awaited licenses had been approved as US and Chinese leaders met, before Chinese customs appeared to halt the clearances hours later.

Little US beef to export

On Friday, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said both sides had agreed to address concerns regarding market access for agricultural products.

Though welcomed by American producers, China's approvals were not expected to result in a surge of exports from the US, where supplies are tight and prices are soaring.

US beef prices set records this year due to strong domestic demand and as the nation's cattle herd dwindled to a 75-year low. Earlier this week, Trump was considering executive actions to facilitate increased beef imports to cool domestic prices.

"We don't really have the supply to be exporting right now," said Austin Schroeder, analyst for commodity advisory firm Brugler Marketing & Management.

Cargill CEO Brian Sikes was among US CEOs accompanying Trump on his visit to China. Facilities owned by Cargill, a major US producer of ground beef, and other meat companies were included in the approvals.

ALSO READ: China renews, then halts licences for hundreds of US beef exporters amid Trump-Xi summit