Neil Bradley
Executive Vice President, Chief Policy Officer, and Head of Strategic Advocacy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Published
November 18, 2025
There are many factors that drive food prices up and down, including droughts and other weather events, labor prices, and fertilizer costs. For imported foods, tariffs are one more factor that drives prices up.
America imported over $194 billion worth of food products last year. Many of these are products such as coffee and bananas that simply cannot be grown in the United States; others are products such as fresh vegetables that are produced only seasonally in the United States.
Tariff increases implemented earlier this year significantly increased the cost of imported food, contributing to higher prices at the grocery store and for restaurants.
In a welcome move, President Trump rescinded the increased tariffs on hundreds of agricultural products on November 14. In just four months of 2025, the federal government collected an additional $1.5 billion in extra tariffs, compared to 2024, on the items that going forward will be exempt from additional tariffs. That is a 647% increase in taxes on food and agriculture items. A U.S. Chamber analysis of customs data reveals that the removal of these tariffs will result in a significant reduction in the cost of imported food items and put downward pressure on grocery prices.
Specifically, the Chamber looked at the food and agriculture items exempted from higher tariffs via the President’s November 14th Executive Order and compared the amount of tariffs collected on those items in April through July of last year with the amount of tariffs collected in April through July of this year (the most recent data available).
| | Tariffs in $ April - July 2024 | Tariffs in $ April - July 2025 | $ Increase | Percent Increase | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meat | $98,518,918 | $487,944,425 | $389,425,507 | 395% | 2 |
| Vegetables | $1,813,841 | $9,331,668 | $7,517,827 | 414% | 3 |
| Fruits & Nuts | $6,952,153 | $174,478,128 | $167,525,975 | 2410% | 4 |
| Coffee, Tea, Spices | $9,320,378 | $424,083,300 | $414,762,922 | 4450% | 5 |
| Cereals, Oils, Cocoa, Bread | $13,770,866 | $302,964,621 | $289,193,755 | 2100% | 6 |
| Prep Veg, Nuts, Juices | $98,163,913 | $299,854,416 | $201,690,503 | 205% | 7 |
| Fertilizer | $1,888,879 | $22,854,596 | $20,965,717 | 1110% | 8 |
| TOTAL | $230,428,948 | $1,721,511,154 | $1,491,082,206 | 647% | 9 |
These additional taxes put upward pressure on key grocery items:
| | Price Increase September 2024 - September 2025 | Tariff Collected April - July 2024 | Tariff Collected April - July 2025 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bananas | 6.90% | $203,070 | $68,886,254 | 2 |
| Coffee | 18.90% | $1,250,617 | $350,509,025 | 3 |
| Candy (For Tariffs Cocoa) | 9.80% | $- | $45,045,489 | 4 |
| Beef (For Tariffs, Meat) | 14.70% | $98,518,918 | $487,944,425 | 5 |
While the volume of tariff revenue collected on the newly exempt items is large, it is important to note that it is only about 45% of the overall increase in tariffs collected on food items. Additional tariff relief would further help reduce costs for American families.
| | Tariffs Collected April - July 2024 | Tariffs Collected April - July 2025 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meat | $99,530,675 | $545,682,276 | 2 |
| Fish and Crustaceans | $49,060,116 | $476,455,029 | 3 |
| Dairy Products, Birds, Eggs, Honey | $84,921,194 | $137,274,593 | 4 |
| Vegetables and Roots | $57,694,188 | $124,321,514 | 5 |
| Fruits and Nuts | $16,066,538 | $284,007,035 | 6 |
| Coffee and Tea | $9,364,606 | $424,545,572 | 7 |
| Cereals | $7,580,321 | $43,808,486 | 8 |
| Milling Products and Malt | $6,624,222 | $30,009,516 | 9 |
| Oil Seeds, Misc Grain, Seed, Fruit | $16,084,673 | $65,159,289 | 10 |
| Preparations of Meat and Fish | $58,653,875 | $197,988,404 | 11 |
| Sugars | $57,061,698 | $182,759,682 | 12 |
| Cocoa | $21,489,644 | $263,140,498 | 13 |
| Preparations of Cereal | $65,927,393 | $234,546,122 | 14 |
| Preparations of Vegetables and Fruit | $215,082,246 | $440,043,848 | 15 |
| Misc Edibles | $130,857,475 | $392,833,972 | 16 |
| Beverages and Spirits | $29,293,535 | $399,263,250 | 17 |
| TOTAL | $925,292,399 | $4,241,839,086 | 18 |
In May, the Chamber sent a letter to Administration officials proposing tariff relief for items not produced in the United States like coffee, bananas, and cocoa, instances where tariffs threaten American jobs, and for the more than 236,000 small businesses who import into the United States.
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About the author
Neil Bradley
Neil Bradley is executive vice president, chief policy officer, and head of strategic advocacy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He has spent two decades working directly with congressional committee chairpersons and other high-ranking policymakers to achieve solutions.
