November 17

11/17 – On Friday, Trump rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including coffee, beef, bananas, and orange juice. The new trade deals will eliminate tariffs on most food imports from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala, and El Salvador. But don’t get too excited. Brazil is still the 800lb gorilla in the room, and Brazil remains in the tariff crosshairs. On Friday, Trump lifted 10% tariffs on Brazilian beef, coffee, and fruits imposed in April, but 40% tariffs imposed on Aug 6, and other quota-tied fees, remain in effect. So, a combination of tariffs/quotas of 76.4% on Brazilian beef drops to 66.4%. And the 50% tariff on Brazilian coffee drops to 40%. Since Aug 6, coffee futures have skyrocketed from $2.93/lb to a record-high of $4.32 (9/15) and closed at $3.9980 on Friday (11/14). Brazil accounts for one-third of all U.S. coffee imports, and there’s not enough alternate arabica supply available from other countries to offset such a loss.