Trump reverses course and cuts tariffs on US food imports | Trump tariffs
Donald Trump moved to cut tariffs on food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, in an executive order Friday as the White House grapples with growing concerns about rising costs.
The new exemptions will take effect retroactively from midnight Thursday, marking a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that import tariffs do not increase inflation. These follow a series of Democrats’ victories in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where affordability was a key issue.
Earlier Friday, the president claimed: Real Social “Costs are falling under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION”.
Trump told CBS’s 60 Minutes this month he said: “We don’t have inflation. We don’t have inflation. Biden had inflation, he didn’t have tariffs.”
One information noteThe White House said Trump “strengthened the U.S. economy and national security by changing the scope of reciprocal tariffs” and that “given significant progress in reciprocal trade negotiations,” it is now “necessary and appropriate to further modify the scope of reciprocal tariffs.”
Trump upended the global trading system earlier this year by imposing 10% base taxes on imports from each country and additional special taxes that vary from state to state.
Friday’s orders follow the announcement of a new trade agreement that would eliminate tariffs on certain food and other products imported from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, and a deal that would reduce U.S. tariffs on Switzerland from 39% to 15% as part of framework trade agreements.
While Trump has increasingly focused on affordability in recent weeks, he has insisted that higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by former president Joe Biden, not his own tariff policies.
Consumers are frustrated by high food prices, which economists say are due in part to import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies begin bearing the full burden of import duties.
A majority of Americans say their monthly costs have increased by between $100 and $749, according to a survey Harris conducted for The Guardian last month.
Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said the Trump administration was “putting out the fire they started and claiming that as progress.”
“The Trump administration is finally admitting publicly what we’ve all known all along: Trump’s trade war is increasing human costs,” Neal said in a statement.
“Since the implementation of these tariffs, inflation has increased and manufacturing has contracted every month.”
Reuters contributed to this story
