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Which countries are the largest exporters of beef to the United States by value and tonnage?
Executive summary
The available reporting shows that the United States sources most of its imported beef from Australia, Canada, Mexico and Brazil by volume and market share in recent years—with Australia and Canada repeatedly cited as top suppliers and Brazil growing as a major supplier [1] [2] [3]. USDA/ERS and industry summaries put total U.S. beef imports in the 2023–2025 period in the range of roughly 4.1–4.8 billion pounds (about 1.9–2.2 million metric tons), with 2024 imports reported at about 4.171 billion lb and projections for 2025 ranging as high as 4.77 billion lb [4] [5] [6].
1. Who are the top suppliers to the U.S. and how do they rank?
Multiple industry and USDA-adjacent reports identify Australia, Canada and Mexico as the primary suppliers of foreign beef to the U.S., with Brazil and New Zealand also prominent; Drovers reporting notes Australia shipped roughly 1.1 billion lb to the U.S. in 2024 (24% of U.S. imports) while Canada represented about 22% and Brazil about 15% of total imported beef in 2024 [1]. National Beef Wire and farm-industry summaries likewise show Australia rising to the top supplier in 2024 for the first time since 2016 and note increases from Oceania and South America that have pushed Australia ahead of Canada in recent months [2] [3].
2. Value vs. tonnage — why the difference matters
Reporting distinguishes volume (pounds/metric tons) and value (dollars). Imported beef is often lower‑value cuts (lean trimmings for ground beef) compared with the higher-value cuts the U.S. exports; this means a country that supplies large volumes of lean trimmings (by weight) may not lead by dollar value, and vice versa [3]. The industry-focused writeups in this dataset emphasize volumes and market shares by weight more than precise dollar rankings per country [2] [3]. Dedicated value-by-country tables are available in USDA/ERS trade datasets, but those specific country-by-value tables are not quoted in the items you provided [7].
3. Recent totals and trends in import volume
USDA and industry sources in this set report U.S. beef imports rising sharply from earlier in the decade: USDA forecasted 2024 imports at about 4.171 billion pounds and projected 2025 imports near 4.225–4.77 billion pounds depending on the source; ERS projections cited a 2025 import peak around 4.4 billion pounds in one chart [4] [5] [6]. Nationalbeef/Clara charts and other industry commentaries describe 2024 as a record high for imports and expect 2025 to stay elevated as domestic production struggles to meet demand [5] [2].
4. Country examples and numeric snapshots
Drovers’ industry analysis gives a concrete snapshot: Australia ~1.1 billion lb (≈499,000 metric tons) in 2024 (24% of imports), Canada ~22% of imports, Brazil ~15%—figures presented as shares of total U.S. imported beef, not dollar-values [1]. USDA ERS and trade data products contain monthly/annual tables and WTO quota breakdowns where researchers can extract country-by-value and country-by-tonnage tables [7] [8]. The sources provided do not include a single consolidated table listing “largest exporters to U.S. by dollar value” with ranked values in dollars per country — that level of country-by-value detail is not in the excerpts you supplied [7].
5. Market forces, tariffs and short-term shifts
Analysts in these items attribute import growth to a reduced U.S. cow herd and tight domestic lean-beef supplies, which increase demand for imports used primarily in ground beef [9] [10]. Trade actions (for example, tariffs on Brazilian products mentioned in industry pieces) and temporary shifts in demand from other markets (e.g., China) have redirected supplies between markets and can change which exporters dominate U.S. shipments in a given month or quarter [1] [3]. National Beef Wire and others flag seasonality and shifting shares—Australia overtook Canada in 2024 due to these dynamics [2].
6. What’s missing or where to look next
The sources point to USDA/ERS and USDA FAS trade datasets as authoritative places to pull exact country-by-country rankings by both tonnage and dollar value [7] [11]. The excerpts provided do not include a single, up-to-date ranked list of exporters to the U.S. by dollar value; for that you should consult the ERS Livestock and Meat International Trade data or USDA/FAS country tables, which the dataset cites as available [7] [11].
Summary recommendation: Use the USDA ERS/Livestock & Meat trade CSVs or FAS commodity pages for downloadable country-by-country tables if you need a definitive ranked list by both metric tons and dollar value; the industry pieces here reliably identify Australia, Canada, Mexico and Brazil as the largest suppliers by volume in 2024–2025 but do not provide a consolidated dollar-value ranking in the excerpts provided [1] [2] [7].