BEIJING, China: At Home Plate BBQ in Beijing, the iconic Texan brisket is about to get a new passport. The restaurant, known for its American-style barbecue, is removing U.S. beef from its menu as soaring tariffs make it too costly to import.

For years, the restaurant relied exclusively on U.S. beef, using up to eight tonnes of brisket each month. Now, with freezers nearly empty and prices surging, staff are reprinting menus to reflect a full switch to Australian beef.

"It's essentially just made it very hard for us to continue using U.S. beef," said Charles de Pellette, operations director at Home Plate, which has three outlets in China.

U.S. beef has become one of the most visible casualties in the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing. Even before tensions escalated, American beef was already expensive. But China's retaliatory tariffs—now totalling 125 percent on top of existing import duties—have pushed it off the plate entirely.

"Once we deplete our stocks, we will be switching fully over to Australian M5," de Pellette said. "We still think that it's the same taste and quality and flavour, but we've had to switch just due to market pressures and the tariffs."

The change goes beyond brisket. Home Plate's pork ribs will now come from Canada, and beef sausages are being reworked using non-American sources.

A Beijing-based beef supplier, speaking anonymously due to the political sensitivity of the issue, confirmed the shift is happening across the city. "Even the American steak restaurants have to switch to Australian beef," the supplier said.

American beef had already been rising in price due to drought-driven shortages that shrank U.S. cattle herds to their lowest levels since the 1950s. With China's economy slowing and consumers more price sensitive, the latest tariffs made U.S. beef even harder to justify.

Brisket prices jumped nearly 50 percent between last May and March, and continued to rise after the trade war escalated.

Australian beef is filling the gap, and Home Plate says it's managed to maintain its quality. "We have tested it for a few months, and we found that it is actually just as good," said de Pellette. "Our customers are pretty happy with it."