The price of beef in China has trended downwards in recent years, with analysts blaming oversupply and a lack of demand as the world's second-largest economy has slowed.

At the same time imports have surged, with China representing a hugely important market for countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Australia.

Investigators found that beef imports had damaged China's domestic industry, Beijing's commerce ministry said in a statement. The probe covered fresh, frozen, bone-in and boneless beef.

The extra tariffs apply for three years -- until December 31, 2028.

The ministry described the levies as "safeguards" and said they would be gradually relaxed.

Countries have been assigned annual quotas and beef sent to China will be subject to the extra 55 percent levy if imports go beyond that amount.

Quotas expand slightly each year.

In 2026, Brazil has an import quota of 1.1 million tons while Argentina has a cap of roughly half that.

Australia faces a quota of around 200,000 tons and the United States one of 164,000 tons.

The ministry also said it was suspending part of a free trade agreement with Australia covering beef.

"The implementation of safeguards on imported beef is intended to temporarily help the domestic industry get through difficulties, not to restrict normal beef trade," a spokesperson said in a separate statement.

Brazil, the world's largest meat exporter, said Wednesday it intended to "work with the Chinese government, both bilaterally and within the WTO (World Trade Organization) framework, to mitigate the impact" of the new measure.

The foreign ministry in Brasilia said in a statement that Brazil was the main supplier of beef to China, which accounted for 52 percent of the South American country's foreign sales of the commodity in 2024.