Trump drops tariffs on dozens of food items, from beef to bananas
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A shopper scanning fruit at a Walmart. Photo: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
President Trump on Friday night issued an executive order dropping reciprocal tariffs on dozens of food items, including drinks, spices, fruits and meat.
Why it matters: The growing affordability crisis has become a political liability for the administration. Cutting tariffs is at least one way to potentially make groceries cheaper.
Driving the news: The White House issued a statement Friday evening saying a list of foods would no longer be subject to the sweeping tariffs implemented earlier this year:
- Coffee and tea;
- Tropical fruits and fruit juices;
- Cocoa and spices;
- Bananas, oranges, and tomatoes;
- Beef
The intrigue: The order marks the most significant backtracking of the administration's trade policy yet.
- It suggests officials are concerned about the cost-related impacts from tariffs, even as Trump's top economic and trade deputies insisted the levies would not hike costs.
- Inflation data has been delayed because of the government shutdown, but the latest release from September shows an aggregate index for grocery costs rising at the quickest annual pace since 2023.
- Prices have jumped for items that the U.S. import from foreign nations, including coffee.
What they're saying: Trump decided to modify tariffs on a slew of food items after considering "current domestic demand for certain products and current domestic capacity to producer certain products," according to the text of the executive order.
- That comes just hours after Trump doubled down on his public argument that the affordability crisis is not getting worse — contradicting government data.
- "[C]osts under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY," Trump wrote, in part, on Truth Social earlier on Friday. "We are the Party of Affordability!"
Trade groups were quick to praise the decision.
- "The makers of America's favorite brands make up the largest U.S. manufacturing sector by employment and source 90 percent of ingredients and inputs from American farms and suppliers. But some products — like coffee, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit, and more — are simply unavailable in the U.S.," the Consumer Brands Association said in a statement.
- "Many factors impact the price of food on grocery store shelves – including weather and crop yields, energy and transportation costs, packaging, and labor, among many others. Tariffs are an important factor in this complex mix of supply chain effects," food industry association FMI said.
Yes, but: Some groups that were left out of the exemptions immediately protested.
- "Not including EU and UK spirits on the list of tariff modifications is yet another blow to the U.S. hospitality industry just as the critical holiday season kicks into high gear," Distilled Spirits Council CEO Chris Swonger said in a statement.
The bottom line: Even if the White House's move to exempt a slew of grocery items from tariffs does not totally heal spiking prices, it suggests officials are trying to ease some pain as consumer sentiment hovers near the lowest level on record.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with industry comments.
