The Trump administration announced on Thursday that import taxes on coffee and bananas will be reduced under new trade arrangements with four Latin American countries.
The agreements, reached with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador, come as President Donald Trump faces heightened scrutiny over his handling of the economy and growing concerns about rising living costs.
Under the framework, reciprocal tariffs of 10 percent on imports from Guatemala, Argentina and El Salvador and 15 percent on imports from Ecuador will remain in place. However, the deals make exceptions for goods that the United States cannot produce in sufficient quantities, including coffee.
The agreement with Argentina also includes provisions aimed at improving access to international markets for US beef producers.
Trump has recently shifted his tone on affordability. After months of dismissing cost-of-living concerns as political attacks, he has begun addressing the issue more directly following the Republican Party’s poor showing in last week’s off-year elections.
Both Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pledged this week to lower coffee prices, which have risen by roughly 20 percent in the US this year. Bessent also indicated that tariff relief would extend to bananas and other fruit imports.
Senior administration officials highlighted coffee, cocoa and bananas as key imports from the four Latin American countries likely to benefit from tariff exemptions. Guatemala and Ecuador are among the largest suppliers of bananas to the US.
Although the US imports coffee from Central America, Brazil remains its largest supplier, and is not covered by the new agreements, according to Agriculture Department data.
Officials noted that severe weather patterns have also been pushing up global prices for coffee and cacao. They expressed hope that lower tariffs would help ease prices, provided retailers and wholesalers pass savings on to consumers.
In a separate announcement, the White House released a joint statement with Argentina outlining plans to improve market access for beef exporters. The statement said both countries had agreed to “improved, reciprocal, bilateral market access conditions for trade in beef.”
Beef prices have become a politically sensitive issue for Trump. Last week, he requested a Justice Department investigation into meat-packing companies over their potential role in driving price increases, following earlier attempts to bring down beef prices that faced resistance from ranchers.
The four new trade agreements are expected to be formally signed within two weeks. They follow Trump’s announcement in April of sweeping new tariffs on dozens of countries, many of which were paused amid financial market turmoil. Revised tariff rates were later introduced in August after further negotiations.
In recent weeks, the Trump administration has also concluded trade agreements with the European Union, South Korea, Japan, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.
