White House announces South American trade deals to try to lower some food prices
The White House on Thursday during a background call with reporters announced framework deals with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador that it hopes will bring down the costs of certain groceries.
These deals come after President Donald Trump and some of his top allies promised an announcement on a deal to help alleviate the price increases of bananas, coffee and other agricultural goods, but a senior administration official on the call could not provide any specifics about how much relief this would bring to Americans' wallets.
According to data from the September 2025 Consumer Price Index, coffee prices have spiked 18.9%, bananas are up 6.9% and beef prices are up 14.7% in the past year.
Economists have attributed some of the price increases for coffee and bananas to Trump's tariffs -- these are products that the U.S. does not produce in large quantities and relies on imports from other countries.
The announcement does not include relief on the 50% tariffs on Brazil, a major source of U.S. coffee and beef imports.
The senior administration official announced that the reciprocal tariff rate for Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador will remain the same 10% rate set on the so-called "Liberation Day" in April. Ecuador's reciprocal tariff remained unchanged at 15%.
However, the official noted that these deals will provide "relief on a number of items."
In press releases about the framework deals with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador, the important caveat is that the U.S. promises to "remove its reciprocal tariffs on certain qualifying exports from" those nations on products that "cannot be grown, mined, or naturally produced in the United States in sufficient quantities."
For Argentina, the deal promises to remove the reciprocal tariff rate on "certain unavailable natural resources and non-patented articles for use in pharmaceutical applications."
When asked what effect this will have on prices and when Americans could feel it, the senior administration official sidestepped on specifics. But the they did add that the White House expects "some positive effects for prices" on products like coffee, cocoa and bananas.
"I don't have a precise number on how this might have the impact, right? I mean, I think Secretary Bessent is right in that to the extent that any of the tariff price was passed down to the consumer, I would hope that the retailers, you know, no longer need to do that," the senior administration official said.
"I don't know exactly where, you know, how the tariff was allocated along the supply chain there. I can't control a weather event, but our expectation is that there'll be some, you know, some positive effects for prices, for things like coffee, cocoa, bananas," the senior administration official added.
The agreements on reciprocal trade for "most of these countries" will be signed and publicized within the next two weeks, the official said.
Guatemala and El Salvador already give substantial duty-free treatment to the U.S., the official said, but there are non-tariff barriers that have existed for a long time in all four countries.
The framework agreements announced Thursday come after the White House announced similar framework agreements throughout Trump's trip to Asia with countries like Vietnam and Thailand and published full agreements on reciprocal trade with Malaysia and Cambodia.
"With all of these deals, the ones in Asia, the ones we're announcing today, we maintain the tariff. We get some tariff relief on certain products or goods, but at the same time, we open up foreign markets in ways that they have not been opened before," the senior administration official said.
U.S. in trade talks with Switzerland
During the call, the official also confirmed Switzerland is in trade talks with the Trump administration. That comes after Switzerland was slapped with a 39% tariff rate in August.
The official said Swiss representatives were at the White House Thursday for meetings, speaking with the administration about deals with the U.S. that could lower its tariff rates. The conversations were "very positive," the official said.
"They are very aware of their trade deficit with the United States and the need to reduce it and eliminate it, and they have presented plans to do so. And like with many of our trade deals, it's a combination of things, where, if this deal is accepted by the President and the Swiss people, we would see a reduction in tariffs into Switzerland," the senior administration official said.
