Donald Trump issued an executive order Friday to lower tariffs on imports of food including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, as the White House battles growing concerns about rising costs.
The new exemptions take effect retroactively at midnight Thursday and mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted his tariffs do not fuel inflation. They come after a string of victories for Democrats in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where affordability was a major issue.
Earlier Friday, the president had also claimed as much Truth social that “costs are falling under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.”
Trump told it CBS’s 60 Minutes this month that: “We have no inflation. We have no inflation. Biden had inflation and he had no tariffs.”
In one fact sheetthe White House said that Trump “strengthened the U.S. economy and national security by changing the scope of reciprocal tariffs” and that “given the substantial progress in reciprocal trade negotiations” it was now “necessary and appropriate to further change the scope of reciprocal tariffs.”
Trump upended the global trading system earlier this year by imposing a base 10% tariff on imports from each country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state.
Friday’s orders followed the announcement of a deal to cut U.S. tariffs on Switzerland from 39% to 15% as part of a new trade pact and framework trade agreements announced Thursday that will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other products imported from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador once those deals are finalized, with U.S. officials eyeing additional deals to be signed before the end of the year.
Trump has increasingly focused on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while emphasizing that any higher costs were caused by former President Joe Biden’s policies, not his own tariff policies.
Consumers are still frustrated with high food prices, which economists say have been partly fueled by import tariffs and could rise further next year if companies start passing on the bulk of the import duties.
According to a Harris poll conducted for The Guardian last month, a clear majority of Americans say their monthly costs have increased by between $100 and $749.
The top Democrats on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, said the Trump administration was “putting out the fire they started and claiming it as progress.”
“The Trump administration is finally publicly admitting what we all knew from the start: Trump’s trade war is raising costs for people,” Neal said in a statement.
“Since these tariffs were introduced, inflation has risen and production has shrunk month after month.”
Reuters contributed to this story
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