WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday rolled back tariffs on dozens of food products, including such staples as beef, tomatoes and bananas, in the face of growing angst among American consumers about the high cost of groceries.
The new exemptions – which take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday – mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that the sweeping import duties he imposed earlier this year are not fueling inflation. Democrats have won a string of victories in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where affordability was a key topic.
The Trump administration announced framework trade deals on Thursday that, once finalized, will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, with U.S. officials eyeing additional agreements before year’s end.
Friday’s list includes products U.S. consumers routinely purchase to feed their families at home, many of which have seen double-digit year-over-year price increases.
Ground beef, as of the latest available data for September, was nearly 13% more expensive, according to Consumer Price Index data, and steaks cost almost 17% more than a year ago. Increases for both were the largest in more than three years, dating back to when inflation was nearing its peak under Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
Banana prices were about 7% higher, while tomatoes were 1% higher. Overall costs for food consumed at home were up 2.7% in September.
Trump has upended the global trading system by imposing a 10% base tariff on imports from every country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state.
Trump has focused squarely on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by Biden, and not his own tariff policies.
Consumers have remained frustrated over high grocery prices, which economists say have been fueled in part by import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies start passing on the full brunt of the import duties.
The top Democrat on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, said the Trump administration was “putting out a fire that they started and claiming it as progress.”
“The Trump Administration is finally admitting publicly what we’ve all known from the start: Trump’s Trade War is hiking costs on people,” Neal said in a statement. “Since implementing these tariffs, inflation has increased and manufacturing has contracted month after month.”
By REUTERS
Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Costas Pitas; Editing by Dan Burns and Richard Chang
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
