Overview
- A presidential decree removes or reduces elevated duties on key agricultural imports, with changes taking effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday.
- Covered items include coffee, tea, cacao, bananas and plantains, tomatoes, avocados, coconuts, oranges, pineapples, selected beef products, and spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.
- The policy shift follows new framework trade arrangements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador that establish reciprocal tariff rates of about 10% for most goods and 15% for Ecuador.
- The move reverses an April program that set a minimum 10% tariff plus supplements, introduced as inflation data showed supermarket prices up roughly 12–18% year over year in September and roasted ground coffee up 33% in July.
- Separately, the administration announced an investigation into meatpacking companies over pricing practices as beef prices rose nearly 15% year over year in September.