TACO Trump Already Crumbling on His Sweeping Tariffs

Donald Trump’s import tariffs—a central plank of his economic agenda—may soon no longer apply to certain types of food as the administration tries to push down grocery bills.

Amid rising consumer anxiety, the administration is preparing to make exemptions that will likely include beef and citrus fruit imports, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people briefed on the plans.

The exemptions will also likely apply to countries that haven’t even made trade deals with the U.S. In that way, they would go beyond a September executive order in which Trump directed Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to determine exemptions for a wide variety of foods and other products from countries that had negotiated a more favorable trade rate with the U.S.

Lutnick, 64, has been advocating for food exemptions due to their current cost, according to the Times.

Neither the White House nor the Commerce Department immediately responded to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

Howard Lutnick has been advocating for certain food exemptions, according to a report by the New York Times. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Times in a statement that “the Trump administration is committed to pursuing a nimble, nuanced, and multifaceted strategy on trade and tariffs.”

A “critical mass” of trade agreements have been made since April, allowing for the exemptions, a Trump administration official added. New agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador were announced Thursday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, 63, revealed to Fox News Wednesday that coffee and bananas would also be exempt.

“That will bring the prices down very quickly,” he claimed, adding that the Trump administration “inherited this affordability mess.”

Trump, who has insisted that prices are “way down,” has been pressed about affordability, especially after he tried to claim that Walmart’s Thanksgiving Dinner was cheaper this year—without mentioning that the package contains fewer items.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham also pointed out the issue of affordability during an interview aired Tuesday. And Trump, 79, was forced to respond on Fox last week to a longtime supporter’s dissatisfied message.

The administration’s exemption plans come after Democrats won gubernatorial races last week in New Jersey and Virginia—as well as the mayoral race in New York—after campaigning heavily on the issue of affordability.

Consumer confidence fell to a six-month low at the end of October.

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