Business
Trump cuts tariffs on goods like coffee, bananas and beef in bid to slash consumer prices
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during an announcement from the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 23, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Friday exempted key agricultural imports like coffee, cocoa, bananas and certain beef products from his higher tariff rates.
The move comes as Trump faces political blowback for high prices at U.S. grocery stores. Some distributors of beef, coffee, chocolate and other common food items have raised prices as Trump’s tariffs took hold this year, adding to pressure on household budgets created by decades-high inflation in recent years.
Trump’s action Friday also exempts a range of fruits including tomatoes, avocados, coconuts, oranges and pineapples. Along with coffee, the tariff reductions extend to black and green tea, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.
The move marks a reversal for Trump, who has insisted tariffs are necessary to protect U.S. businesses and workers. He has contended U.S. consumers will not ultimately pay for the higher duties.
The exemptions come just a day after Trump reached trade framework agreements with four Latin American countries – including 10% tariffs on most goods from Argentina, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and 15% from Ecuador. It also removes duties specifically on products not grown or produced in the U.S. in sufficient quantities, like bananas and coffee.
Rising food prices have hampered U.S. households for several years. Consumer Price Index data show food-at-home prices increased approximately 2.7% year-over-year in September. (More recent data was delayed because of the government shutdown).
The tariff exemptions aim to help moderate these grocery price increases, although experts caution that other factors such as global supply shortages also influence prices, especially for coffee and beef.
Here’s more background on how industries like beef, coffee and cocoa have reacted to tariffs and rising prices.
Beef
A customer shops for meat at a Costco store on Nov. 11, 2025 in Novato, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The tariff exemption for beef comes after months of rising prices tied in part to Trump’s own tariff policy.
Over the past year, the U.S. imposed steep duties on major suppliers including Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Uruguay. Brazil – the world’s second-largest beef producer – has faced effective tariff rates topping 75%, driving down imports into the U.S. just as the cattle herd in the country hit a near 75-year low.
Ranchers have struggled to rebuild herds amid drought, higher feed costs and tariffs on fertilizer, steel and aluminum that have made equipment and repairs more expensive.
The supply squeeze has fueled a spike in prices at the grocery store: uncooked beef products rose 12% to 18% year over year in September, according to the most recent consumer price index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Producers told CNBC earlier this month that policy whiplash, from changing tariff rates to the recent expansion of Argentina’s beef quota, has further chilled long-term investment, keeping supplies tight and sentiment fragile.
Coffee
Coffee beans are displayed at a grocery store on Nov. 13, 2025 in San Anselmo, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Ground roast coffee prices in the U.S. reached $8.41 per pound in July, a record high and a 33% increase from the prior year, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Trump’s 50% tariff on Brazilian coffee – which supplies roughly a third of U.S. imports – drove up costs across the roasting and retail supply chains. Vietnam, Colombia and other major exporters have also been swept up in the administration’s food tariffs.
Roasters and cafés say they have no way around the duties because the U.S. produces none of the beans it consumes, leaving importers exposed to higher costs regardless of origin. The September CPI report found that coffee prices climbed nearly 21% in August from the prior year. That was the largest jump since the 1990s.
Retailers have warned the impact could have spread if tariffs stayed in place. The Tax Foundation estimated in August that 74% of U.S. food imports faced tariffs, already hitting tea, spices and other products that, like coffee, have no domestic supply chain.
Many of those products that have little or no U.S. production were on the list of items Trump exempted from higher tariffs Friday.
Global coffee prices are hovering near a 50-year high reached in February.
Cocoa
Cocoa has faced similar price pressures.
Even after a sharp selloff this fall, futures are still more than double pre-pandemic levels, costing roughly $5,300 today, following tariffs and three years of weather-driven crop failures in the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
In October, Hershey executives said they expected $160 million to $170 million in tariff expenses this year, on top of record-high bean costs that pushed retail chocolate prices nearly 30% higher from the prior year heading into Halloween, according to research firm Circana.
Regional bank Fifth Third on Tuesday announced a deal making fintech firm Brex the provider of its commercial cards and expense management tools for business clients.
The program will run on Brex’s embedded payments platform, which lets banks issue corporate cards and automate expense reporting using artificial intelligence tools, the companies said in a release.
The move shows how some banks are choosing to partner with fintech firms rather than building their own platforms to keep up with clients’ evolving technology expectations. Fifth Third is in the process of acquiring Comerica, a deal expected to make it the ninth largest U.S. bank with about $288 billion in assets.
“Our partnership with Brex is a commitment to redefine how companies leverage financial technology,” Fifth Third CEO Tim Spence said in a statement. “By combining the strength of a leading bank with Brex’s AI-driven innovation, we’re creating intelligent solutions that simplify complexity, drive efficiency and enable businesses to scale globally with confidence.”
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) surged to a fresh all-time high on Tuesday, with market participants showing positive sentiments following the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval for a $1.2 billion loan for Pakistan.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index settled at an all-time high of 169,456.38 points, up 1,153.14 points, or 0.69%, from the previous close of 168,303.24. The index climbed to an intraday high of 169,601.03, gaining 1,297.79 points.
The market rally strengthened further following the IMF’s approval of nearly $1.2 billion under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and an additional $220 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).
The move has kept the combined $8.4 billion programme on track and significantly lifted investor confidence.
The surge was largely fuelled by strong and consistent buying from local mutual funds, which helped sustain positive momentum throughout the session. Major index contributors collectively added around 640 points to the benchmark’s gains.
Trading activity also remained robust. Total volumes crossed 1.02 billion shares, while overall turnover rose to Rs51.1 billion. K-Electric (KEL) dominated the session as the volume leader with 86.7 million shares traded.
With solid liquidity, improving macro indicators, and renewed confidence, the record close reinforces the bullish trend steering the market forward.
The IMF will release $1bn under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both programmes to $3.3 bn.
“Today, the Executive Board of the IMF completed the second review of Pakistan’s economic reform program supported by the EFF and the first review of Pakistan’s program supported by the RSF,” the IMF said in a statement.
This decision, it said, allows for an immediate disbursement of around $1 billion under the EFF and around $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under the two arrangements to about $3.3 billion
The IMF has described the implementation of the ongoing loan programmes as “strong” and has assured the government of continued support for its economic reforms. The release of $1.2bn is expected to further bolster Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
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