President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order exempting a range of food imports, including coffee, beef and bananas, from his reciprocal tariff policies.
The White House said the president had “determined that certain agricultural products will no longer be subject to reciprocal tariffs.” Exempt items include coffee, tea, tropical fruits, fruit juices, cocoa, oranges and tomatoes, the White House said.
The reduction comes amid nationwide complaints about high grocery prices, despite Trump’s campaign promise to lower prices.
Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement that the administration is “finally publicly admitting what we’ve all known all along: Trump’s trade war is raising costs for people.”
He said the administration is putting out “a fire they themselves started and claiming it as progress.”
Trump’s order comes a little more than a week after Democrats defeated Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey.
NBC News polls showed that the vast majority of voters (about two-thirds) think Trump has failed to deliver on his promises to curb inflation and improve the economy.
