With 50 days left before the end of the year, the export sector does not know whether the United States will renew the expanded 100,000-ton beef quota in 2027. The additional 80,000 tons represent some 400 million dollars in extra earnings.
As of November 11, with barely 50 days left before the end of the year, Argentina's export sector still does not know whether the United States will renew the expanded 100,000-ton beef tariff quota in 2027 or whether Argentina will once again have to stick to 20,000 tons. The decision is important for companies, which should already be sourcing the cattle needed to make those shipments from January onward.
This year, President Donald Trump expanded the quota from 20,000 to 100,000 tons and, thanks to strong demand, the United States became for the first time the second most important market for domestic meatpacking plants, behind China. The additional 80,000 tons mean extra foreign currency earnings for the country of around 400 million dollars.
Doubts have begun to emerge for two reasons: the main one is Trump's defeat in his country's midterm elections; the second is that the expanded quota is part of a free trade agreement under which Argentina has committed to many things it has not yet delivered on, such as joining the international UPOV 91 regime on seeds. The White House could use beef exports to pressure Javier Milei's government into speeding up its pledges.
In the private sector, speculation is that the United States will keep the 100,000-ton quota, mainly because it needs beef to meet its demand and Argentina is a good supplier. It is also considered that, should a decision be delayed, at most what happened in 2026 will occur, when in the first months the historic 20,000 tons were exported and then, in a staggered fashion throughout the year, the rest of the volumes were completed.
In Argentina's government, officials trust that Trump will keep his word and extend the beef agreement to 2027. PromArgentina's executive president, Diego Sucalesca, together with Argentina's ambassador in Washington, Alec Oxenford, held a working meeting with the board of the Meat Import Council of America (MICA). In that context, Sucalesca proposed bringing the first Argentine Meat Week of 2027 in the United States to the Argentina Week stage, which will be held from March 15 to 17 in New York.
The importers highlighted "the efficiency of the B2B trade promotion model driven by PromArgentina and the high level of compliance of Argentine meatpacking plants," which managed to fill the entire 100,000-ton quota in just nine months. In addition to confirming Argentine Meat Week, Sucalesca and Oxenford reviewed the planning of business rounds in other strategic sectors such as wine, fishing, organic products and technology, with a schedule of activities planned in different cities across the United States throughout the year.
