President Donald Trump is pulling back on food tariffs, and the timing tells you everything you need to know about why. On Friday, he signed an executive order that retroactively reduces tariffs on beef, coffee, bananas, tomatoes, and dozens of other agricultural imports, effective next Thursday.

The shift comes as the Trump administration faces mounting pressure over rising prices. After Republicans lost key elections centered on cost-of-living concerns, Trump has sharpened his focus on affordability issues that have become politically toxic.

What's Actually Getting Cheaper

The White House released a list of over 100 products that will no longer be subject to "reciprocal" tariff rates, which had ranged from 10% to 50%. These are goods that cannot be produced domestically in sufficient quantities, according to the administration. Important note: this doesn't eliminate tariffs entirely, just removes them from the higher reciprocal rates.

The order follows what the administration described as "substantial progress" in trade negotiations. Just a day earlier, Trump announced new trade agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador aimed at reducing tariffs on select imports and addressing trade barriers.

The Price Problem

Trump has previously dismissed affordability concerns as a "con job" by Democrats, but the numbers are harder to spin away. Grocery costs and soaring beef prices have evolved into a genuine political liability.

Consider coffee: Brazil, the largest U.S. supplier, faced a 50% tariff beginning in August. Retail coffee prices subsequently jumped nearly 20% year-over-year by September, according to Consumer Price Index data. That's the kind of price shock people notice every morning.

While September inflation came in cooler than many analysts expected, most items tracked in the Department of Labor's report still showed increases. Groceries are up 2.7% from last year, a persistent reminder at the checkout line.

The Full Exemption List

Here's what's no longer subject to the reciprocal levies:

• Coffee and tea
• Cocoa
• Beef products, including high-quality cuts, bone-in and boneless cuts, corned beef, frozen items, and salted, brined, dried, or smoked meat
• Fruits, including acai, avocados, bananas, coconuts, guavas, limes, oranges, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, various peppers, and tomatoes
• Spices, including allspice, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, curry, dill, fennel seeds, ginger, mace, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, saffron, and turmeric
• Nuts, grains, roots, and seeds, such as barley, Brazil nuts, capers, cashews, chestnuts, and macadamia nuts

Stock futures showed mixed trading Friday evening, with Dow futures down 276 points, or 0.58%, to 47,271. S&P 500 futures gained 5.25 points, or 0.08%, trading at 6,765.25, while Nasdaq futures climbed 52.75 points, or 0.21%, to 25,147.50 at the time of writing.