White House Cuts Tariffs on Coffee, Beef and Other Food Imports in Broad Order

Overview

• President Donald Trump signed an executive order exempting or reducing tariffs on hundreds of agricultural items, including coffee, beef, bananas, tomatoes, açaí and cocoa, with a U.S. list reported at at least 825 products.
• The changes take effect retroactively from 00:01 on November 13 (New York time), with U.S. Customs instructed to process refunds of duties already collected under standard procedures.
• Brazil stands to gain given its export mix, yet the decree does not clarify whether the separate 40% punitive surcharge on Brazilian goods is lifted, and Brazilian officials say sanctions on individuals are unlikely to be reversed soon.
• Brasília says talks with Washington are active after Mauro Vieira met Marco Rubio, with a provisional framework expected by the Brazilian side in the coming weeks; exporters such as ABIEC welcomed the relief while Cecafé analyzes the fine print.
• USTR Jamieson Greer also said the U.S. and Switzerland have basically reached a deal to cut U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15% in exchange for roughly $200 billion in investment commitments.