The United States imported 5.4 billion pounds of beef in 2025, carcass weight, up 16 percent on 2024 and equal to about a fifth of what its own plants produced. Most of it is lean trim bound for the grinder. Five countries ship nine tenths of it, and the order changed in 2026.
Where it comes from
USDA's Economic Research Service publishes the monthly trade by country. The 2025 year, and the first eight months of 2026, read like this.
| Origin | 2025, million lb | Share | Change on 2024 | Jan to Aug 2026, million lb | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1,331 | 24.7% | +19% | 985 | 22.6% |
| Canada | 1,013 | 18.8% | flat | 656 | 15.0% |
| Brazil | 931 | 17.3% | +35% | 877 | 20.1% |
| Mexico | 710 | 13.2% | +19% | 539 | 12.4% |
| New Zealand | 539 | 10.0% | -4% | 478 | 11.0% |
| Uruguay | 373 | 6.9% | +21% | 269 | 6.2% |
| Nicaragua | 197 | 3.7% | +27% | 159 | 3.6% |
| Argentina | 128 | 2.4% | +29% | 207 | 4.8% |
| Paraguay | 104 | 1.9% | 148 | 3.4% | |
| All origins | 5,388 | 100% | +16% | 4,358 | 100% |
January to August 2026 ran 14 percent ahead of the same months of 2025. Brazil passed Canada for second place in 2026, and Argentina's shipments more than doubled.
What each country ships
Beef imports are not one product. An analysis of the Census trade detail by Oklahoma State's Derrell Peel in March 2026 put about 52 percent of imports in trimmings, 21 percent in primals and subprimals, and 18 percent in retail-ready cuts.
The trim comes from the grass-fed exporters. Australia supplied about 31 percent of imported trimmings. New Zealand's shipments were 82 percent trimmings. Brazil was about 16 percent of the trim, Canada and Uruguay just under 11 percent each. That trim is the lean the US grind market blends against its own fat 50s, and the imported lean article covers the price link to domestic 90s.
The cuts come from the neighbours. Mexico supplied more than half of the imported cuts, much of it sold in US grocery stores. The primals and subprimals came mostly from Canada and Australia. Canadian beef is fed beef from the same genetics and the same grain as the US kill, and it crosses with no quota and no duty under the trade agreement.
The quota behind the shares
The shares are shaped by the US tariff-rate quota, covered in its own article. Canada and Mexico are unlimited. Australia has 378,214 tons a year, New Zealand 213,402, Argentina and Uruguay 20,000 each, the UK 13,000 from 2026, and every other country shares one pool of 52,005 tons at the low 4.4 cents a kilo rate. Over the quota the duty is 26.4 percent.
Brazil has no line of its own. It ships into the pool, fills it in the first days of January, and pays 26.4 percent for the rest of the year. An extra 40 percent tariff on Brazil from August 2025 cut its shipments sharply in late 2025, which is why its 2025 share settled at 17 percent after running near 20 percent through October.
What 2026 changed
Two proclamations added quota for lean trimmings only. February's gave Argentina 80,000 tons in four quarterly tranches. USDA's Buenos Aires office reported the first tranche only partly used and the second and third filled quickly, and by August Argentina's shipments were running 158 percent ahead of 2025.
August's added 300,000 tons for the other-countries pool in three monthly tranches from September 1. USDA's October outlook, quoting Customs' September 28 status report, said the Argentina tranche was completely filled and the September pool tranche 37 percent filled, "likely being filled mostly by Brazil", with Brazil's reported shipments up substantially in August and September. Paraguay's shipments were up 51 percent on the year by August. The quota article tracks each tranche as Customs reports it.
The ten-year shift
In 2015 Australia alone was 37 percent of US beef imports and New Zealand 20 percent; Brazil was 4 percent. By 2025 Australia was 25 percent, New Zealand 10, and Brazil 17. The lean trim the US grind needs moved from Oceania to South America, and the 2026 tranches pushed it further that way.
The forecast
USDA's Economic Research Service forecasts 2026 imports at 6.35 billion pounds, which would be nearly 18 percent above 2025, and 6.18 billion for 2027. The Foreign Agricultural Service's October outlook expects a 3 percent decline in 2027 because the extra 2026 quotas are not expected to carry over. Both say the same thing: the US herd is small, lean beef is short, and imports stay high until it rebuilds.