A few days after China halted its beef imports from the U.S. to counter tariffs, American retail markets show price steadiness.

In its April 7, 2025 weekly retail beef release, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed marginal movements among cuts.

While sirloin steak increased from $7.72 a pound to $9.40 week-on-week, boneless top sirloin roast shed $4 to $5.99.

General increases included frozen ground patties, from $4.78 to 4.99 a pound, alongside conventional shank from $4.46 to $4.53.

Regular shank was down 55 cents to $4.05 a pound while regular flank steak lost 17 cents to settle at $9.92.

Although there were no steep rises, significant decreases abounded. These included conventional skirt steak, from $14.14 to $8.21 and boneless top sirloin steak from $17.32 to $10.99 a pound.

Specialty animal products such as bones at $3.99 a pound and quartered carcass at $7.99 remained unchanged weekly. 

China Gap

Based on the price steadiness, it is too early to tell how the stoppage of orders by China could impact future retail.

In 2024, China imported $1.6 billion in American beef, a value that may not return after traders closed shop.

As of March 16, no U.S.’ beef shipments landed in China ahead of a beef tariff by Beijing, now at 116%. The Far-East nation is now substituting its American imports with those from Australia, where U.S.’ tariffs have also reached. 

So, as the American retail beef industry copes with trade woes, its red meat is still accessible, based on the USDA’s market figures. To learn more on the place of domestic retail, browse the statistics below. 

United States Retail Beef Statistics 

The United States is one of the leading beef-producing, -consuming and -exporting nations. Production peaked at 28.3 billion pounds in 2022, before shrinking due to ebbing cattle numbers. By 2024, the cattle head count had slumped to 86,622,000 head, the lowest since 1951. Still, beef trade keeps the industry afloat, with an annual slaughter of between 29.3 million (2015) and 37 million (2002) head of cattle. Most of this total ends up in retail markets, which account for 70% of all beef utility in the United States. 

How much is the value of beef retail in the United States? 

Since 2002 to date, retail trade has been accounting for 70% of American beef sales. As of 2022, 19.7 billion pounds of beef seeped through local retail shops and was worth $143.9 billion.

How much is U.S. retail prices in any given year?

Average retail values of beef in the United States change yearly depending on the reigning production factors. In the 2002-22 period, for instance, the lowest average was $3.05 a pound in 2002 while the highest $7.30 in 2022. The values increased steadily in the years under highlight, although sometimes they decreased marginally.  

Do cattle prices also change?  

While retail prices change due to market factors, cattle prices alter fas a result of production shifts. For example, the USDA priced steers in Q1 2025 at $201 per hundredweight, above 2024’s $187.12 to reflect falling head count.