At Home Plate BBQ, an American-themed eatery located in Beijing, employees are updating their menus. Due to the ongoing U.S.-China trade conflict, which has made American beef—formerly the key component—a rarity, this change is necessary.
The brisket at Home Plate, which was once exclusively sourced from the United States, is now predominantly coming from Australia. The eatery utilizes around 7 to 8 tons of brisket monthly. Once the current supply of American beef in their freezers runs out in several weeks, the Southern-style barbecue restaurant plans to offer only Australian-sourced meat.
American beef is just one of many victims in the trade dispute between the globe’s biggest trading nations. Prior to the conflict starting, U.S. beef was already costly. The addition of China’s punitive 125% tariffs to the pre-existing 22% duties has rendered it prohibitively expensive for most consumers.
\”Basically, this has made it extremely difficult for us to keep using American beef,\” stated Charles de Pellette, the operations director at Home Plate.
Although the $125 million monthly export value of US beef to China represents only a small fraction of the vast bilateral merchandise exchange, the absence of beef from restaurant menus in Beijing offers a preview of what lies ahead for numerous products traded across the Pacific.
\”After exhausting our current inventory, we will completely transition to using Australian M5… Although we believe it maintains the same taste, quality, and flavor, we have been compelled to make this change because of market conditions and tariff issues,\” de Pellette explained.
The pork ribs are also being updated. They will now be sourced from Canada, he mentioned.
The situation faced by the restaurant chain, which operates three locations in China and was started by a Texan, is mirrored throughout eateries in Beijing, as stated by an anonymous beef supplier from the city due to the sensitive nature of talking about tariffs.
\”Their only option is to shift to Australian beef—even the American steakhouse chains,\” stated the beef supplier.
Pellette refused to reveal the payment amount for Australian beef by Home Plate.
Before the trade war started, U.S. beef became more costly due to shortages resulting from prolonged drought conditions over several years, which reduced cattle herds to their lowest levels since the 1950s. These increased costs were particularly difficult for Chinese consumers to accept, as they have become highly sensitive to pricing amid a struggling economy.
U.S. brisket prices increased by about 50% from the previous May to March, and then surged even more following the implementation of tariffs, resulting in supplies being significantly reduced or costs becoming nearly twice as high compared to those a year prior.
Australia aims to bridge this gap, including by sourcing brisket that is 40% less expensive.
At the Home Plate location, they have achieved great success. Starting in May, visitors can look forward to enjoying Australian beef ribs, brisket, and sausages, which are slowly smoked using techniques from Texas and the American Southern tradition.
“We’ve been testing it for several months now, and we discovered that it’s equally effective. Our customers seem quite pleased with it,” stated de Pellette.