Trump cuts tariffs to ease rising consumer prices
US President Donald Trump signed an order removing tariffs on essentials like tea, juices, spices and fruits to ease costs.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a surprising turn in its trade strategy, signing a new executive order on Friday that scales back tariffs on a wide range of everyday commodities. The move, which affects items such as beef, coffee, tropical fruits, tomatoes, bananas, tea, cocoa, spices, fruit juices and even certain fertilisers, is being framed as an effort to bring down prices at a time when American consumers continue to grapple with persistent inflation.
For years, tariffs on agricultural imports were positioned as a way to push domestic production and shield American farmers from foreign competition. But officials now acknowledge that several of these goods are either barely produced in the United States or not produced at all. As a result, the protective tariffs did little to stimulate local supply—while they very noticeably pushed up prices for shoppers, restaurants, food-related businesses, and importers.
The new executive order aims to correct that imbalance. While the goods will not be entirely exempt from all tariffs, they will now be excluded from the so-called “reciprocal” tariff rates—a mechanism that set import taxes starting at 10 percent and climbing as high as 50 percent. By removing the commodities from this steep tariff list, the administration hopes to ease inflationary pressures on families struggling with high grocery bills.
According to CNN’s reporting, many of the commodities affected by the order—such as coffee, bananas, spices, and imported fruits—have seen some of the steepest price jumps since Trump returned to the White House. Analysts believe that the earlier tariffs, combined with limited domestic production, created a supply squeeze that worsened price spikes. With the holiday season approaching and cost-of-living concerns dominating public discourse, the administration appears eager to demonstrate responsiveness to household frustrations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previewed the move earlier this week, signaling that the White House was preparing targeted steps to bring relief on essential items. “We don’t grow these things here in the United States,” Bessent said, referencing products like coffee and bananas, which Americans consume in huge quantities but rely heavily on foreign suppliers for. Coffee is grown in small pockets in Hawaii, California, and Puerto Rico, but U.S. production represents only a sliver of national demand. The rest comes primarily from Latin America, Africa, and Asia—regions that have long warned that high U.S. tariffs were distorting long-established trade flows.
The administration’s decision also reflects a subtle but important shift from its earlier hardline approach to tariffs. When Trump first introduced aggressive reciprocal tariff rates, the stated goal was to force trading partners to lower their duties on American products. But in practice, the higher tariffs often ended up raising costs inside the United States without significantly altering other countries’ policies. In some cases, partners retaliated with their own tariffs, tightening supply chains and contributing to rising global food prices.
Friday’s executive order doesn’t fully reverse that broader strategy, but it marks a recognition that not all commodities fit neatly into the reciprocal framework. Items that Americans consume daily—but which the United States does not produce in meaningful quantities—are now being treated differently.
Food industry groups have largely welcomed the change, saying it will offer breathing room amid rising transportation costs, labor shortages, and climate-related disruptions that have affected harvests worldwide. Importers of coffee and cocoa, in particular, have long argued that tariffs serve little purpose when domestic alternatives do not exist. Restaurants and cafés, already contending with soaring rent and wage pressures, say the tariff reductions could help stabilize menu prices and prevent further cutbacks.
Economists note that the impact on consumer wallets may not be immediate, but they expect downward price adjustments over time as importers pass along savings. The administration, meanwhile, is positioning the move as part of its broader inflation-fighting agenda. By reducing costs on goods that millions of households buy regularly, officials hope to demonstrate that Washington is paying attention to everyday economic challenges.
Still, some critics argue that the timing is political, coming amid intense public scrutiny over grocery prices and ongoing debates about the effectiveness of aggressive tariff strategies. Others warn that tariff cuts alone will not solve deeper structural issues in global supply chains or domestic food distribution.
But for now, many shoppers may simply welcome any relief they can get. Whether it’s a cheaper cup of coffee, more affordable spices, or lower prices on imported fruits, the administration’s recalibrated approach could gradually make a difference at checkout counters nationwide.