By Brazil Stock Guide – JBS could emerge as one of the main beneficiaries of a US move to expand lower-tariff beef imports as Washington seeks to ease record-high meat prices and a shortage of cattle.
Joesley Batista, a controlling shareholder and board member of JBS, met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Aug. 20 and argued that more Brazilian beef could help lower US prices if import barriers were reduced, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the meeting.
Trump announced plans to temporarily expand beef imports the following day.
The US government subsequently increased its tariff-rate quota for lean beef trimmings by 300,000 metric tons for 2026, with the additional volume to be released in three monthly tranches of 100,000 tons starting Sept. 1.
The additional quota is not reserved for Brazil or for any individual company and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis among eligible suppliers. Still, Brazil is well positioned to compete for the additional access. It is the world’s largest beef exporter and already supplies significant volumes to the United States.
JBS has an additional advantage because it is a major processor in both countries.
Its Brazilian operations could benefit from greater access to the US market, while its American business could gain access to additional imported lean beef at a time when cattle scarcity has squeezed processor margins.
The US cattle herd has fallen to its lowest level in decades after drought and other weather disruptions reduced supply. Higher cattle costs have pressured meatpackers even as retail beef prices reached records.
Lean imported beef is commonly blended with fattier US beef in products such as hamburgers and other ground beef. That makes imports one way of relieving supply pressure before the domestic herd can be rebuilt, a process that can take several years.
JBS and other large processors have been dealing with weaker beef-processing margins in the United States because of high cattle prices and limited animal availability.
At the same time, the Trump administration has stepped up criticism of concentration in the US meatpacking industry.
JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef together account for the majority of US beef processing capacity. Trump has said his administration wants to encourage greater competition in the sector, while the Agriculture Department has announced measures aimed at supporting smaller processors and cattle producers.
That creates an unusual policy backdrop for JBS. Washington is seeking to reduce the dominance of large processors while also increasing beef imports, a measure that could improve raw-material availability for companies with global supply chains.
Other Brazilian meatpackers, including Minerva and MBRF, could also benefit from greater access to the US market, depending on plant eligibility, product mix and their ability to secure quota.
For JBS, however, the potential benefit extends beyond exports.
Its presence in both Brazil and the United States gives the company more flexibility to respond to differences in cattle availability, beef prices and margins between the two markets.
The size of the eventual benefit will depend on how much of the additional quota is captured by Brazilian exporters, the duration of the measure and whether Washington decides to extend the tariff relief beyond the initial period.
A principal uncertainty also remains around the reported Batista-Trump meeting.
The timing places the JBS shareholder’s intervention immediately before the US policy announcement, but there is no public evidence showing that the meeting caused the tariff decision.
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