Trump Flip-Flopping as Tariffs Raise Grocery Prices

Last updated on 2025-11-16

King Don now admits in policy that his tariffs raise Americans’ grocery prices:

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order exempting a range of food imports — including coffee, beef and bananas — from his reciprocal tariff policies.

The White House said the president had “determined that certain agricultural products shall no longer be subject to the reciprocal tariffs.” Among the items being exempted are coffee, tea, tropical fruits, fruit juices, cocoa, oranges and tomatoes, the White House said.

…Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in a statement the administration is “finally admitting publicly what we’ve all known from the start: Trump’s Trade War is hiking costs on people” [Dareh Gregorian, “Trump Issues Order Rolling Back Some of His Food Tariffs,” NBC News, 2025.11.14].

That’s not what Trump told us when he started his tariff tirade:

Trump has long said that his tariffs – currently a baseline 10% on imports from all countries, with additional levies on many trading partners – would not lead to increased prices for US consumers. He also said affordability was a “new word” and a “con job” by Democrats.

…But the latest exemptions signal a reversal by the Trump administration, as the White House seeks to lower prices by walking back levies on some food staples.

…”We just did a little bit of a rollback on some foods, like coffee as an example, where the prices of coffee were a little bit high. Now they’ll be on the low side in a very short period of time,” Trump said [Danielle Kaye and Nardine Saad, “Trump Rolls Back Tariffs on Dozens of Food Products,” BBC, 2025.11.15].

But King Don is wrong again—exempting a few specific foods won’t bring down the prices that all of his other tariffs and his unreliable and erratic diktats have ratcheted up:

Ricky Volpe, a professor of agribusiness at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said a tariff exemption is welcome news because it could help slow inflation. But, he said, “It’s not likely to bring food prices down.”

There are so many other factors that influence the price of food, like cost of labor, transportation and warehousing. Plus, there are other tariffs.

“Pretty much every piece of capital that is necessary to get food from the fields to the supermarket is incredibly steel intensive,” Volpe said

Farm equipment, processing machines, storage shelves … the list goes on.

Luis Ribera, an agriculture economist at Texas A&M University, said there’s also the issue of policy perception: whether businesses think the exemptions will stick.

“Policy can change from one hour to the next,” Ribera said.

Uncertainty comes with costs. For importers here and also for exporters abroad. Namowicz said his growers are worried.

“Will my product be bought? Do I have a home for my coffee?” Namowicz said.

If growers of coffee or bananas or other imports shrink their crop or shut down, it could squeeze supply [Kristin Schwab, “How Quickly Would Trump’s Proposed Tariff Exemptions Impact Prices?” Marketplace, 2025.11.14].

Whatever he may have learned at Wharton, King Don is failing economics now. Congressman Neal understands the economy and King Don’s destruction thereof far better:

Putting out a fire that they started and claiming it as progress, while millions are being socked with doubling health care premiums, is not the victory the Administration is sure to claim it to be. Damage remains, and workers and families still need higher wages, better opportunities, and leadership that puts them first. Every day that Trump’s tariffs remain in place is another day that families, small businesses, farms, and manufacturers get crushed. It’s time to end the entire Trade War and for House Republicans to let Congress restore its rightful authority [Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-MA), press release, 2025.11.14].

How many more trips to the grocery store do MAGAs need to make before they figure out the damage their guy has done to America?