On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a decree to remove United States tariffs on agricultural imports such as beef, bananas, coffee, and tomatoes, amid growing pressure to reduce the cost of living for Americans. The presidential decree determines that some agricultural products will be exempt from the 'reciprocal' tariffs imposed this year, after analyzing issues such as the national production capacity for certain goods in the United States, as reported by Radio France and echoed by Noticias Argentinas. The list published by the White House includes products that the United States does not grow or produces in quantities too small compared to demand: coffee, tea, avocados, tomatoes, mangoes, pineapples, bananas, and coconuts, among others. On April 2, Trump issued an executive order that substantially modified trade policy and imposed a minimum tariff of 10%, as the trade deficit constituted, in his view, 'an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States,' the White House communiqué recalls. Supplements were added to this minimum tariff, depending on the country and product. The US Treasury began to collect substantial monthly revenues, but inflation has been negatively impacted by these customs duties. Following a first review on September 5, Trump now considers that 'the current domestic demand for certain products and the domestic capacity to produce certain products' require lowering tariffs again. Investigation in the meat sector The cost of living is cited by Americans as one of their main concerns in public opinion polls. The United States announced on Thursday tariff agreements aimed at reorganizing its trade policy with Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala, all of them important producers of inputs such as coffee, beef, and fruit. The price of coffee rose 20% in August and September Following Friday's announcement, the president of the National Coffee Association, Bill Murray, assured in a statement that the decision will help 'ease the cost of living pressure for the two-thirds of the adult US population that consumes coffee daily'. The Trump administration has recognized the concerns about the cost of living facing Americans, which motivated the electoral punishment suffered by Democrats a year ago. 'That is something we are going to solve, and we are going to solve it immediately,' said Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, this week. According to the latest official data available, consumer prices for beef and veal increased by almost 15% year-on-year in September. In a recent report, Farm Bureau, the main agricultural organization in the United States, attributes these record prices to the significant decrease in the number of cattle heads in recent years (the lowest in 74 years), along with a consistently strong demand.
