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The White House says it will take actions “very quickly” to try to lower coffee prices amid growing concerns about affordability.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the Trump administration would take action in the coming days that seeks to lower the prices of “coffee, bananas, and other fruits.”
“It’s tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you, Brian, you’re going to see some substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States, coffee, bananas, and other fruits,” Bessent told Fox News host Brian Kilmeade during an interview.
Bessent did not get into the specifics of those announcements, but President Donald Trump previously said that it would involve lowering some tariffs.
“Coffee, we’re going to lower some tariffs,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired Tuesday night.
Ingraham pressed Trump on the issue of affordability after he said that “the only thing” affected by high prices was beef. Ingraham then brought up the cost of coffee.
As of September, the cost of all coffee varieties, including roasted and instant, has increased by 18.9% over the last year, according to the consumer price index.
In July, Trump imposed a 40% tariff on Brazilian goods in addition to an already existing 10% tariff. Trump has said he wants to use tariffs to reshore US manufacturing, but the US produces less than 1% of the coffee consumed domestically, meaning it must rely on other producers, such as Brazil, to make up the vast difference.
Trump’s order cited actions by the Brazilian government, including its prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, as reasons for the increased tariffs. The authority Trump used to impose the Brazilian tariffs, along with scores of others, is now the subject of a legal fight before the US Supreme Court.
The White House has repeatedly argued that tariffs don’t increase prices, a view with which most economists disagree.
The issue of affordability resurfaced during the nation’s elections earlier this month, as Republican candidates performed even worse than expected in key races in Virginia and New Jersey. The economy was the dominant concern of voters, according to preliminary findings from the AP Voter Poll, which was based on a survey of 17,000 voters in Virginia, New Jersey, California, and New York City.
Asked about voters’ concerns and what should be done, Trump told Ingraham, “More than anything else, it is a con job by the Democrats.”
Trump said later, “We are doing phenomenally well, this is the greatest economy we’ve ever had.”
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