President Donald Trump quietly hit the rewind button on his own trade playlist Friday night, issuing an executive order that drops reciprocal tariffs on dozens of food items — from coffee and tea to bananas, oranges, tomatoes, cocoa, spices and beef.
The move is being framed in the White House as a mercy mission to beleaguered shoppers, and by shoppers as the sort of surprise concession you’d expect from someone who finally found the coupons app.
Why now?
The administration says it’s about groceries — and politics.
With Americans feeling the pinch at the supermarket and consumer sentiment hovering near historic lowland, cutting tariffs is a quick lever to suggest prices could fall.
The White House said the list of exempted foods “would no longer be subject to the sweeping tariffs implemented earlier this year,” and that the decision considered “current domestic demand for certain products and current domestic capacity to producer certain products,” language the order uses to justify a selective undoing.
In other words: if the U.S. can’t make enough coffee or bananas at home to keep everyone caffeinated and potassium-rich, import duties will be loosened so supply can flow (and so voters can stop staring at grocery receipts with the intensity of an economic hostage negotiation).
The political theater was not subtle.
Hours before the order landed, Mr. Trump doubled down on his upbeat assessment of the economy on Truth Social: "Costs under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY," he wrote, adding his signature tagline: "We are the Party of Affordability!"
Which is one way to reconcile tariff hikes with later tariff cuts: surprise savings, courtesy of executive whiplash.
Economists will note the awkward timing.
Inflation numbers have been delayed by the government shutdown, but the most recent release for September indicated grocery prices were rising at the fastest annual clip since 2023 — with imported staples such as coffee feeling particularly squeezed.
That’s the political problem the administration apparently wanted to calibrate away.
Trade and food industry groups cheered the move.
The Consumer Brands Association offered a magnanimous nod, noting that “the makers of America’s favorite brands make up the largest U.S. manufacturing sector by employment and source 90 percent of ingredients and inputs from American farms and suppliers.
But some products — like coffee, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit, and more — are simply unavailable in the U.S.”
Translation: we make a lot here, but you still need an actual banana sometimes.
And the food-retail lobby, FMI, reminded everyone that prices are a messy stew of weather, crop yields, energy, packaging and labor — with tariffs merely one spice in a very complicated soup.
“Tariffs are an important factor in this complex mix of supply chain effects,” FMI said, as if to suggest the policy fix is a spoonful of tariff sugar rather than a structural bariatric surgery on global supply chains!
Not everyone was invited to the grocery-party.
The Distilled Spirits Council barked over the omission of EU and UK spirits from the exemption list, with CEO Chris Swonger calling it “yet another blow to the U.S. hospitality industry just as the critical holiday season kicks into high gear.”
In other words: whiskey remains taxed and teary.
Beyond the press releases and tweet-length economic fantasies, there’s a sharper truth: tariffic maneuvers can shave cents at checkout, but they don’t instantly fix supply shortages, labor bottlenecks, or climate-driven crop failures.
Tariff relief may temper prices on the margin, and it’s politically expedient; but whether it becomes a genuine affordability lifeline for the 41+ million Americans who rely on assistance programs, or merely another soundbite, remains to be seen...
Still, for the month ahead, expect supermarket tabloids (and real tabloids) to report slightly less grim checkout totals, and maybe a celebratory meme with a banana in a tuxedo!
For the administration, the move is a bid to reclaim the affordability narrative: a tidy little policy present with a bow on top — with the caveat that someone will eventually have to explain why the bow was wrapped around an earlier gift that cost consumers more.......
Tariff Cash & Tiny Victory: How $300M Is Keeping WIC From Going Broke During the Shutdown
“No paywall. No puppets. Just local truth. Chip in $3 today” at https://buymeacoffee.com/doublejeopardynews
“Enjoy this content without corporate censorship? Help keep it that way.”
“Ad-Free. Algorithm-Free. 100% Independent. Support now.”
#TariffTango #TariffsOffFood #CoffeeRelief #BananaDiplomacy #TomatoesUnshackled #TrumpTradeFlip #PartyOfAffordability #GroceryPolitics #ConsumerBrands #FMISays #SpiceAndPrice #BeefExempt #DistilledSpiritsProtest #InflationAndGroceries #TradeBacktrack
Sources: White House evening statement announcing executive order lifting reciprocal tariffs on food items (list includes coffee and tea; tropical fruits and juices; cocoa and spices; bananas, oranges, and tomatoes; and beef); executive order language considering “current domestic demand for certain products and current domestic capacity to producer certain products”; President Donald Trump Truth Social post: "[C]osts under the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION are tumbling down, helped greatly by gasoline and ENERGY...We are the Party of Affordability!"; September inflation reports showing grocery costs rising at quickest annual pace since 2023 (latest inflation releases delayed by government shutdown); Consumer Brands Association statement praising exemptions and noting domestic sourcing limitations for certain ingredients; FMI statement noting multiple factors affect food prices and that tariffs are one factor; Distilled Spirits Council CEO Chris Swonger statement criticizing exclusion of EU/UK spirits from tariff changes.
Comments
Post a Comment