United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this Wednesday (12) that President Donald Trump’s government will soon announce tariff changes related to coffee and other agricultural imports, which, according to him, will contribute to reducing the prices of these products in the country.
“In the coming days, there will be an important announcement about products that we do not grow in the USA, such as coffee, bananas, other fruits and similar products. This will cause prices to fall quickly,” said Bessent in an interview with the Fox News television network.
The Commerce Secretary did not provide details about future measures or the announcement date.
On Tuesday (11), in an interview with the same broadcaster, Trump had already announced that he would lower tariffs on coffee imports, without specifically mentioning Brazil or other countries.
In an excerpt from the conversation with anchor Laura Ingraham, Trump claimed that the rise in prices in the United States would be restricted to some products and mentioned coffee and beef.
“Beef is a little expensive because ranchers [americanos] they are doing very well. Coffee, let’s reduce some fees. Let’s bring some coffee. We’ll take care of all of this very quickly, very easily. It’s surgical. It’s beautiful to see. But our prices are much lower [do que na gestão Joe Biden]”, said the American president.
Coffee, beef and fruit are among the Brazilian products affected by the 50% tariff that the US has applied to imports from Brazil since August.
In early October, in a telephone conversation that took place weeks before a meeting in Malaysia, Trump told President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that the US is “missing” Brazilian coffee.
According to information from the American press, the price of the product has increased by up to 20% in the United States recently. Before the imposition of the tariff, Brazil accounted for around 35% of American imports of unroasted coffee.
