President Donald Trump has lowered import tariffs on a range of food and drinks items, including beef, fruit and coffee.
In a move welcomed by the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), the White House revealed on Friday (14 November) that Trump has amended Annex II of the executive order 14257 “modifying the scope of the reciprocal tariffs” first outlined on 2 April.
A statement cited “the substantial progress in reciprocal trade negotiations”, along with “current domestic demand for certain products, and current domestic capacity to produce certain products, among other things”. The order stated it is “necessary and appropriate to further modify the scope of the reciprocal tariffs”.
Under the changes, “certain qualifying” agricultural goods will be exempt, including items not produced domestically.
Other products that will have the "reciprocal tariffs" removed also feature nuts, spices, tea, cocoa and fruit juices, along with the list of fresh fruits, including oranges, avocados and tomatoes.
Melissa Hockstad, the president and CEO of the CBA, said the organisation “commends” the order, which “recognises unavailable domestic natural resources and helps address rising grocery costs”.
She added: “Building on this common-sense step, it is imperative that we continue to assess other types of critical inputs that are not readily available in the US, like palm oil and other products on Annex III, as well as tin mill steel used to make food and aerosol cans.”
The association has repeatedly pressed for tariff relief on imports.
In April, following the announcement of reciprocal and universal tariffs, Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain resiliency at the CBA, responded that “there are critical ingredients and inputs that need to be imported due to scarce availability domestically", adding: "No amount of tariffs will bring these inputs back to the US.”
The latest US consumer price index figures for September, issued in October, showed food-at-home prices rose at an annualised pace of 2.7% year on year.
Over the same 12-month period, the meats, poultry, fish, and eggs index rose 5.2%, non-alcoholic beverages increased 5.3%, other food at home was up 1.9%, and fruits and vegetables climbed 1.3%.
