Trump cuts tariffs on dozens of products. The White House publishes the list of foods that escape taxes altogether

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing a number of food products to escape his sweeping tariffs, according to the BBC.

The move comes as his administration faces mounting pressure from rising prices. Although Trump has previously downplayed concerns about the cost of living, he has focused on the issue since the Republican Party's poor showing in last week's election.

The dozen or so products on the White House's list of exceptions range from avocados and tomatoes to coconuts and mangoes.

Those products cannot be produced in sufficient quantities domestically, the Trump administration said Friday.

Change of direction at the White House

Trump has long said his tariffs — currently a basic 10 percent tax on imports from all countries, with additional charges for many trading partners — will not raise prices for American consumers. He also said affordability is a “new word” and a “scam” by Democrats.

He argued that the tariffs were necessary to reduce the US trade deficit – the difference between the value of the goods it buys from other countries and the goods it sells to them. Trump said the US had been exploited by “cheats” and “robbed” by foreigners, adding that higher taxes would encourage US citizens to buy American goods instead.

But food costs and skyrocketing beef prices have become a political issue for Trump. Last week he called for an inquiry into the meatpacking industry, accusing the companies of “unlawful collusion, price fixing and price manipulation”.

He has tried to drum up support for those taxes by giving Americans $2,000 tariff-reduction checks, even as the US Supreme Court is currently weighing whether Trump has the legal authority to implement them.

But the latest exemptions signal a change in direction from the Trump administration, as the White House seeks to lower prices by eliminating taxes on some staple foods.

In his statement to the press on Friday, Trump said that the decision will affect products that are not made in the US, “so there is no protection for our industries or our food products.”

He added that he did not believe further policy revisions would be necessary in the future, saying: “I don't think it will be necessary.”

“We just did a small reduction in taxes on some foods, like coffee, for example, where the prices were a little high. Now they're going to be low in a very short period of time,” Trump said.

Reduced rates on some foods

Economists have warned that firms will pass the cost of the tariffs on to their customers in the form of higher prices.

Although inflation remained lower than many analysts expected in September, most items tracked in the Labor Department's inflation report saw price increases, with food products rising 2.7 percent from a year ago.

New food tariff exemptions granted by the Trump administration take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday, November 13, the White House announced.

In another move aimed at addressing consumer concerns about food prices, the Trump administration announced that import duties on coffee and bananas would be reduced under trade deals with four Latin American countries.

This week, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged to cut coffee prices by 20% in the US this year.

Which products are no longer subject to tariffs

The White House has published a list that includes more than 100 products that are no longer subject to taxes. These include:

• Coffee;
• Cocoa;
• Black tea;
• Green tea;
• Vanilla beans;
• Beef products, including premium cuts, bone-in and boneless cuts, corned beef, some frozen products, as well as salted, pickled, dried or smoked meat;
• Fruits including acai, avocado, bananas, coconuts, guavas, limes, oranges, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, various varieties of peppers and tomatoes;
• Spices including allspice, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, curry, fennel seeds, ginger, mace, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, saffron and turmeric;
• Nuts, grains, roots and seeds such as barley, Brazil nuts, capers, cashews, chestnuts, macadamia nuts, miso, palm hearts, pine nuts, poppy seeds, tapioca, taro and water chestnuts.

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