President Donald Trump is rolling back tariffs on a range of agricultural products, many of which are not widely produced in the United States.The executive order released on Friday lifts “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of imported goods, including coffee, tea, spices, tropical fruits like bananas, and beef. The revisions were made after considering the status of negotiations with various trading partners, domestic demand for certain products, and existing production capacity in the United States, according to the order. “We don’t make them in this country. So, there’s no protection of our industries or our food products,” Trump told reporters on Friday. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows many of the products on the list have seen significant price increases recently. According to the latest Consumer Price Index, beef and veal are up nearly 15% compared to last year. Coffee is up nearly 19%. Banana prices have grown by nearly 7%. Trump said these actions will help bring prices down, but continued to insist that added costs from his tariffs have largely fallen on other countries. Democrats have a different take. “President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said in a statement. The debate comes after recent Democratic wins in elections centered on affordability and as both parties look ahead to high-stakes midterms next year.“After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability,” Beyer continued.Trump told reporters on Friday that he doesn’t think it will be necessary to reverse other tariffs. His administration has recently highlighted new trade frameworks with four Latin American countries and Switzerland as evidence that these policies are effective.”We’ve really reached that critical mass where we’ve started to reshape the global trade system in a way that we think is better for America, and so now is the right time to release some of these items that the president said he was going to release,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
President Donald Trump is rolling back tariffs on a range of agricultural products, many of which are not widely produced in the United States.
The executive order released on Friday lifts “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of imported goods, including coffee, tea, spices, tropical fruits like bananas, and beef.
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The revisions were made after considering the status of negotiations with various trading partners, domestic demand for certain products, and existing production capacity in the United States, according to the order.
“We don’t make them in this country. So, there’s no protection of our industries or our food products,” Trump told reporters on Friday.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows many of the products on the list have seen significant price increases recently. According to the latest Consumer Price Index, beef and veal are up nearly 15% compared to last year. Coffee is up nearly 19%. Banana prices have grown by nearly 7%.
Trump said these actions will help bring prices down, but continued to insist that added costs from his tariffs have largely fallen on other countries.
Democrats have a different take.
“President Trump is finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said in a statement.
The debate comes after recent Democratic wins in elections centered on affordability and as both parties look ahead to high-stakes midterms next year.
“After getting drubbed in recent elections because of voters’ fury that Trump has broken his promises to fix inflation, the White House is trying to cast this tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability,” Beyer continued.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he doesn’t think it will be necessary to reverse other tariffs. His administration has recently highlighted new trade frameworks with four Latin American countries and Switzerland as evidence that these policies are effective.
“We’ve really reached that critical mass where we’ve started to reshape the global trade system in a way that we think is better for America, and so now is the right time to release some of these items that the president said he was going to release,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
