The US-China tariff war continues to escalate, and a Beijing American restaurant, Home Plate BBQ, has reprinted its menu as its star ingredient, US beef, is about to run out, with stock expected to last only a few more weeks. The restaurant will now switch to using Australian beef. On April 17, the restaurant's operations director, Pelate, admitted that due to tariff pressures, they had to make this change, but he believes that Australian M5 beef will still deliver comparable quality, while pork ribs will be sourced from Canada.

Local customers have expressed that beef from other countries is also very good, and it is not necessary to exclusively use American products. US beef has become one of the many victims in the tariff war initiated under Trump. Before the trade war, US beef prices were already high due to supply shortages, and with a 22% tariff imposed by Beijing and later a 125% retaliatory tariff, the prices have become unaffordable. Now, Australian beef hopes to seize the opportunity, and for brisket and beef belly, Australian beef is 40% cheaper than US beef.

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) economists state that this phenomenon has deeper implications, as China is intentionally targeting American agriculture, making it very difficult for US farmers to seek tariff exemptions. The beef trade between the US and China is essentially at a standstill, and both sides need to find new alternative markets.