China’s recent agreement to consider buying U.S. beef again after a 13-year hiatus was welcome news to Iowa cattle raisers.

But there are still hurdles to overcome before high-quality U.S. beef begins flowing to the world’s most populous country, trade experts said. Indeed, a similar announcement was made in September 2016, but technical barriers kept the deal from being finalized and implemented.

"It’s a bit of a replay of what’s already...