These two items will see price decreases, but when?
By Easton Martin | November 12, 2025
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week revealed that the administration plans to unveil significant policy moves aimed at lowering consumer prices for goods such as coffee and imported fruit. According to his remarks, the forthcoming changes will focus on products “we don’t grow here in the United States,” and the effects may begin to register with households in early to mid 2026.
At the heart of the announcement is tariff relief. For example, the administration appears poised to reduce import duties on coffee from major producers such as Brazil, where existing tariffs reportedly reached around 50 percent. By easing those burdens, importers may face lower landed costs and some of the savings could pass through to retailers and ultimately consumers. Coupled with global supply pressures, coffee futures have spiked this year, this move addresses both fiscal and inflation concerns.
There are a few implications worth noting for consumers. While the policy change may be announced imminently, the translation into lower shelf prices may lag. Shipping cost adjustments and inventory cycles mean many consumers may only feel the benefit in the first quarter of next year. Bessent himself suggested that people will start feeling better in early 2026.
The magnitude of relief may be meaningful for more deeply imported goods like coffee and bananas but more modest for produce where domestic production remains strong or where logistics dominate cost. This move signals that affordability and consumer cost of living are now top of mind for trade policy, suggesting a shift from protective tariffs towards easing the cost of products to the American people.
