- The global community has been singed with the ill-advised and illogical tariff moves by Donald Trump on commodities imported into the United States of America is well documented. The petulant, maverick, and extremely unpredictable Trump has gone about introducing tariffs of varying degrees on several countries that he felt were fleecing the USA through high rates of their own. After all these months, the domestic heat generated with the rise in the commodity rates for the Americans has started taking effect on the back of the non-availability of certain commodities, which an ordinary American citizen is so used to. It was just a matter of time before Trump would start feeling the domestic heat, and the same has commenced in the right earnest.
PC: Fox Business
- In a move that will be welcomed by the global community around the world, Trump has cut tariffs on coffee and other farm produce recently. Why? Simply because the voter pain is turning into anger. Trump is a politician after all. It’s taken Trump nearly eight months to wake up and smell the coffee. What woke him up was the alarm over Democrat victories in NYC, Virginia, and New Jersey early this month. But coffee, America’s favourite beverage, was already at his bedside, reminding him its price has risen 20% in a year, and that tariffs are partly to blame. Also, that affordability isn’t a new word or a con job by Democrats. So, news that Trump’s suddenly lowered tariffs on about 200 food, farm, and agricultural items, including coffee, isn’t surprising at all.
PC: CNN
- Undoubtedly, he forgot, but voters didn’t, that price rise was one of his key poll planks last year. And while he promised to make things better for them, the opposite has happened. A couple of weeks back, Bank of America reported that one in every four US households is living paychequeto paycheque, spending 95% of income on housing, gasoline, groceries, childcare, and utilities. Yes, Trump will never admit the folly of tariffs. White House’s spin is that tariff cuts are warranted, given the substantial progress in reciprocal trade negotiations. But by its own admission, only two final agreements have been inked so far. The other 11 are framework deals and investment agreements. Officially, the cuts apply to food not grown in the USA, such as coffee, cocoa, and tea.
PC: ScanX
- But beef has been included even though the US is the world’s biggest producer. There’s a note of desperation there, but Indian producers can cheer. Our spices, tea, coffee, mangoes, and cashews are back in the game. While the bigger trade deal that will make Indian fisheries, basmati, jewellery, and dozens of other product categories competitive again is expected anytime, agri exports worth over $1bn annually will be on US shelves very soon. Trump knows his average voter is hurting, else he wouldn’t talk about $2,000 subsidy cheques and 50-year house mortgages. The sooner he drops tariffs altogether, the better for everyone, his voters and Indian exporters included. Trump realizes that bullying and forceful exhortations will not work anymore. Good.
