President Trump signed an executive order Friday cutting tariffs on scores of products in a bid to lower some grocery prices following frustration from voters over exceedingly higher costs.
The products that are no longer subject to tariffs, include coffee, tea, beef, bananas, tropical fruit, wood and iron.
The removal of this batch of tariffs marks somewhat of a reversal to Trump’s sweeping global economic policy, in which he argues tariffs are needed for the U.S. to make up for money it pays to other countries on imports.
Trump’s sweeping global economic policy was announced in April, with much of it taking effect in early August and impacting about 90 countries. Implementation of the trade policy was pushed back several times this year since Trump’s April “Liberation Day” announcement after pressure from Wall Street and Republicans, who wanted to calm Wall Street jitters.
The April tariff announcement sent markets plummeting for weeks before stabilizing. Several companies of everyday goods had warned in recent months that the tariff policy would force them to raise prices on consumers, who appeared to be feeling that squeeze in recent weeks.
The move comes one day after the administration announced it reached framework agreements with Argentina, El Salvador, Ecuador and Guatemala. The agreements are meant to bring tariff relief to products that cannot be produced in the U.S.
A senior administration official told reporters that a baseline tariff rate of 10 percent will remain in place on goods from Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala, and a 15 percent tariff rate will remain in place on Ecuador. However, the framework agreements will allow for tariffs to be reduced or dropped on certain goods, such as bananas, coffee and cocoa, the official said.
While Trump successfully campaigned on lowering prices during the 2024 presidential election, Republicans lost to Democrats on the issue in last week’s off-year elections. According to an NBC News national poll released earlier this month, 63 percent of voters said they believed Trump has fallen short on his handling of the economy and the cost of living.
Trump has publicly maintained that prices are going down, calling Democratic messaging on affordability “a con job.”
