Commentary by Stephen Macaulay

Well, they finally figured this out: tariffs are not good for the American people despite the administration’s claim: “President Trump’s tariff policies have delivered significant and lasting wins for the American people through fair, tough, and strategic trade negotiations, strengthening the US economy and national security while breaking down unfair trade barriers that have harmed American workers for decades.”

If that was, indeed, the case then how to explain the fact that on November 14 the Administration added several items to Annex II of Executive Order 14257, which means these products “shall no longer be subject to the reciprocal tariffs.”

What are they?

Mainly what President Trump likes to call “the groceries,” even though in his read of it, it is “An old-fashioned term that we use—groceries.” It is also what normal Americans have to buy to eat. When is the last time he went to a grocery store — if ever? (Let’s not forget who was born with a silver spoon.)

Taken off the list are:

• Coffee and tea
• Tropical fruits and fruit juices
• Cocoa and spices
• Bananas, oranges and tomatoes
• Beef

Part of the rational: other countries “produce substantial volumes of agricultural products that are not grown or produced in sufficient quantities in the United States.”

After all, when you go to Starbucks you may order a cup of Sumatra or Komodo Dragon Blend. 

And there are brews from Ethiopia, Kenya, Columbia, and elsewhere—none of which are grown in the US.

Here’s a fun fact: In the US about 3,500 metric tons of bananas are grown — at most.

In Latin America and the Caribbean it is 20 million metric tons.

So let’s see what his tariffs have done “for the American people.”

Over the past year:

• Coffee prices are up 19%
• Beef up 14%
• Bananas up 8%

Just to name a few products.

And as we get further along, all manner of toys for Christmas will be higher, which harkens back to his “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know?”

Or car companies often have promotions during the month of December to move the metal before the calendar year is out.

To borrow Lexus’s phrase, it will be “A December to Remember” — and not in a particularly good way, as the vehicle manufacturers at that point will start passing along some of the tariff-induced costs that they’ve been absorbing to consumers, which will mean prices for vehicles will be higher and discounts will be smaller.

Now the Administration claims — no surprise — that this is all the fault of Biden. And if it isn’t Biden, then Obama.

When exactly it is that they believe it is their responsibility isn’t clear.

But to go back to the lifting of the tariffs on those food products:

Isn’t this an admission that tariffs add costs to American consumers?

If they didn’t, then why take them off?

And there’s something else to consider. There is a boast that the prices for those goods will go down thanks to Donald Trump. But those prices have gone up and have been higher since “Liberation Day” thanks to Donald Trump.

Doesn’t he owe the consumers a rebate for the unnecessarily high prices they paid?

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings.