President Trump signed an order on Friday reducing tariffs on goods including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, Bloomberg reports, to lower costs on some everyday goods that consumers are struggling with.

The tariff cuts come alongside a series of new trade deals, which include framework agreements with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador. Trump and top officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have in recent days previewed broader tariff exemptions that could cut levies on popular foods.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer first mentioned the plan earlier Friday, saying it fit with Trump's broader strategy.

“Now is the right time to, you know, to release some of these items the president said he was going to release,” Greer said. “This is a natural outgrowth of exactly what the present signaled, and that’s what he’s doing today.”

The push to reduce food prices comes after electoral wins for Democrats across a number of key state and local races where candidates stressed affordability concerns. Trump has also in recent days floated the possibility of a tariff "dividend" for many Americans.

Trump recently acknowledged that US consumers are "paying something" for his tariffs, the bulk of which face a looming verdict from the Supreme Court.

In a closely watched case, a majority of the justices — both the court's three liberal-leaning justices, as well as three more conservative ones — offered skeptical questions regarding the president's authority to impose his most sweeping duties. If the Supreme Court does not side with Trump, it's widely expected that the administration will seek out alternative methods to carry out the US trade agenda.

Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet

The US and Switzerland have agreed to a deal to lower tariffs on Swiss imports to 15%, from a 39% level that had shocked the country over the summer. Switzerland will invest $200 billion in the US, the White House said.

The EU said it will propose a plan to the US that would allow the next phase of the trade agreement to be implemented.

Brazil said it hopes to reach a preliminary trade deal with the US this month, as relations between the two sides improve.

67% of Canadians say it’s unlikely a deal to lower US tariffs will be achieved in the next six months, according to a poll by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News.

The US and China reached a trade truce. The thaw means China will suspend additional export controls on rare earth metals and end investigations into US chip companies. As part of the deal, the US will pause some of Trump’s "reciprocal tariffs" on China for another year. (Read more: What are rare earth minerals, and why are they important?)

Trump said that "at some point," he would reduce the tariff rate on Indian goods, and that the US was getting "close" to a trade deal with New Delhi.

President Trump signed an order on Friday reducing tariffs on goods including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, Bloomberg reports, to lower costs on some everyday goods that consumers are struggling with.

The exemptions would reduce trade levies on the commodities, which the White House said can’t be produced in the US in sufficient quantity to meet domestic demand. Hundreds of food products, including coconuts, nuts, avocados and pineapples were among the products listed by the administration for exemption from tariffs.

The tariff breaks are backdated to take effect at 12:01 a.m. New York time on November 13.

The move comes as Trump has pivoted to focusing on affordability measures as voters are growing increasingly wary of the economy under his leadership. It is also a tacit acknowledgment that the president’s tariff policies have added to price pressures on US consumers.

A White House official, who requested anonymity to speak about the executive order, said earlier Friday that the president is following through on his pledge to negotiate trade deals and then adjust levies as needed.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer teased the plan Friday, saying that it fits in with Trump’s broader strategy to create tariff exemptions for key goods and sectors.

Read more here

After several months of dialogue the US confirmed on Friday that a deal with Switzerland has \\"essentially\\" been reached. This agreement will lead to lower tariffs on Swiss goods from 39% to 15%.

The White House plans to reveal further details and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview with CNBC that more will be posted today.

This latest trade deal will bring some relief to Switzerland, which has been hard hit by President Trump's tariffs.

Bloomberg News reports:

“We’ve essentially reached a deal with Switzerland. So we’ll post details of that today on the White House website,” Greer said.

The 15% levy is inclusive of most-favored-nation rates and certain other existing duties, a similar arrangement to the European Union, Greer told reporters.

In exchange, Switzerland has committed to investing $200 billion in the US during President Donald Trump’s term, including $70 billion next year, in industries such as pharmaceuticals and gold smelting, according to Greer. Switzerland has also committed to buying more Boeing Co. commercial planes, Greer said.

The agreement is the capstone of months of shuttle diplomacy by Swiss government officials and business figures, after the countries’ key industries, including watches, machinery and precision instruments, were punished by the crippling US tariff.

Read more here.

Reuters reports:

Baidu (BIDU, 9888.HK) unveiled two new semiconductors for artificial intelligence on Thursday, saying the ​products can provide Chinese companies with powerful, low-cost and domestically ‌controlled computing power.

Escalating tensions between the United States and China have led to restrictions on exports of ‌advanced U.S. AI chips to Chinese firms, prompting many to develop their own processors or seek domestic alternatives.

The company said at its annual Baidu World technology conference that the M100, an inference-focused chip, is set to be ⁠launched in early 2026. ‌The M300, capable of both training and inference, is slated for early 2027.

Bloomberg News reports:

Brazil hopes to reach a preliminary trade deal with the US as soon as this month, the South American nation’s top diplomat said, as relations between the two countries improve after a months-long feud.

A final Brazil-US trade agreement would come later, according to Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, who made the announcement following his Thursday meeting with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington.

Vieira told reporters that Rubio reaffirmed a prior proposal stemming from technical talks for a “provisional deal by the end of this month or early next month.” After that, a final deal would be achieved two or three months later that would “definitively” solve all outstanding issues between both countries, he said.

A brief readout from US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed that the two diplomats “discussed a reciprocal framework for the US-Brazil trade relationship.”

Since July, Brazilian exports to the US have faced the prospect of 50% tariffs after US President Donald Trump announced the duties, beyond his 10% across-the-board tariffs, though some key products were exempted beginning the following month.

The US leader’s move was part of an ultimately unsuccessful push to stop the trial of Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges he attempted a coup after his narrow 2022 reelection loss.

High-level talks between the two largest countries of the Americas restarted shortly after Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, briefly crossed paths in September at the United Nations.

Read more here.

From beef to bananas, the US consumer is feeling the pinch from high prices on some of these everyday food items. President Trump and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have been hinting all week about lowering tariffs on some key food groups in a bid to ease rising prices.

A series of new trade deals, which include a framework agreement with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador, aim to address high prices and affordability concerns.

The latest move from the Trump administration comes a week after electoral victories for Democrats across a number of key state and local races, where candidates stressed affordability worries.

Bloomberg News reports:

Trade deals with Latin American countries unveiled Thursday will see the US reduce tariffs and barriers on common grocery items like beef, bananas, and coffee beans in a push to lower grocery bills that have for years frustrated Americans.

Separately, Trump and other senior administration officials have previewed broader tariff exemptions that could cut levies on popular food products across the board. In interviews earlier this week on Fox News, Trump pledged to “lower some tariffs” on coffee while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested fruit imports would receive a break.

“One of the things that people have been talking about, just the last few days, is, you know, thinking about changing tariffs for foodstuffs,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg host and Carlyle Group co-founder and co-Chairman David Rubenstein at an Economic Club of Washington event.

The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump was preparing changes to reciprocal tariffs expected to include carve-outs for beef and citrus products, and extend beyond a previous executive order in which the president tasked administration officials with identifying foodstuffs that were not grown in the US for exemptions.

Read more here.

The European Union is planning to propose a plan to the US that would start the next phase of the trade agreement the two sides reached back in July, according to people familiar with the matter.

EU’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, is due to meet with his US counterpart this month and is keen to implement the next phase.

This latest move from the EU follows proposals Washington sent Brussels earlier this year, where a legally binding plan to revise EU regulations it said hurt US businesses was requested.

Bloomberg News:

The deal agreed between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump in August set a 15% tariff on most EU goods entering the US, but also included pledges to keep working on issues like how to deal with steel exports and non-tariff barriers.

The 15% ceiling also applies to cars and the EU is keen to ensure that it will also cover other industries the US might be hit with sectoral duties in future. As part of the accord, a small number of EU goods benefit from lower rates, while the bloc has presented legislation to scrap tariffs on US industrial goods and some non-sensitive agricultural exports.

A commission spokesman declined to comment on the plan but confirmed the EU was engaging at both political and technical level with the US.

Read more here.

Reuters reports:

Switzerland could clinch a deal with the United States to lower U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods to 15% as soon as Thursday or Friday, a Swiss source told Reuters on Tuesday.

The source said ​the deal could also arrive early next week, but cautioned an agreement to lower duties was not certain until U.S. President Donald ‌Trump had given his approval.

Trump announced at the end of July that Swiss exports to the U.S. would be subject to a 39% tariff from August 7, among the highest duties levied ‌in his global trade reset.

The move threatened Swiss access to one of its biggest markets for precision machinery, watches and chocolate by making its products more expensive than rivals from regions with lower import duties.

The Swiss Economic Affairs Ministry, which has been leading the negotiations with Washington, declined to comment on ongoing discussions on Tuesday.

Economy Minister Guy Parmelin was in regular contact with the relevant authorities in the United States, including U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the government ⁠said.

The pair held a video call on Friday, with Parmelin ‌describing the talks as \\"very constructive\\".

Read more here.

It's been less than two weeks since the US and China agreed on a one-year trade truce, which covers several key areas, including soybeans and rare earths. The two largest economies in the world reached an agreement either to increase purchases or reduce export restrictions. Trade tensions started to simmer down, and investors could once again relax — until now.

Morgan Stanley (MS) has issued a warning to the markets, advising them not to become too complacent and to remain prepared for trade tensions to flare up again.

Business Insider reports:

Economist Jenny Zheng says investors should position for a fragmented global economy and an investing landscape where the US isn't necessarily setting the rules for others to follow. Zheng and her team advised investors to be ready for the US-China trade relationship to quickly deteriorate again in the coming year.

\\"We consider this truce fragile, given persistent US-China competitive confrontation on multiple fronts, which means rolling negotiations, truces and periodic flare-ups will likely be the new norm for the foreseeable future,\\" the economist noted.

The bank laid out three scenarios that could play out.

The base case: In Morgan Stanley's most likely scenario, the truce lasts for a year with occasional flare-ups that lead to more trade tensions.

\\"The agreement of a one-year truce is marginally positive for growth and markets, defying intermittent frictions: The 10ppt fentanyl tariff cut and pause in non-tariff measures could lift China's export growth by ~1ppt, translating into a 10bp boost in real GDP growth.\\"

In this scenario, China makes marginal adjustments to start the process of rebalancing its economy, though the analysts predict that any adjustments will be incremental and won't likely yield a significant impact.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Top Trump officials indicated the administration would soon reduce tariffs on coffee, bananas and other foods, after voter anger over the cost of living saw Republicans defeated in state and local elections.

“You’re going to see some substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday on Fox News.

Bessent didn’t specify he was referring to tariff reductions, identify which countries’ goods would be affected or say whether the move would apply to categories of products across nations, but another Trump economic adviser confirmed that the administration is discussing cutting levies on food items.

“One of the things that people have been talking about, just the last few days, is, you know, thinking about changing tariffs for foodstuffs,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg host and Carlyle Group co-founder and co-Chairman David Rubenstein at an Economic Club of Washington event. Hassett called Trump’s tariff plans “an ongoing process.”

Read more here.

China has overstocked on soybeans after months of record imports, which could hinder US export hopes despite a trade truce that Washington said included a promise by Beijing to start buying soybeans again.

Reuters reports:

Traders and analysts warn that vast stockpiles at ports and in state reserves, coupled with weak crush margins, limit Beijing's appetite for further purchases.

\\"State firms may be waiting ‌for margins to recover before making large-scale purchases,\\" said Johnny Xiang, founder of Beijing-based AgRadar Consulting. \\"Even with tariff waivers, margins remain negative and Brazilian beans are still cheaper.\\"

After President Donald ‌Trump met Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month officials in Washington said China had agreed to buy 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans by year-end and 25 million tons in each of the next three years.

China has not publicly committed to making purchases, although it suspended retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports, while state buyer COFCO has booked only a few cargoes for December and January shipment, traders and analysts say.

Read more here.

President Trump said on Monday that the US faced economic and national security disaster if the Supreme Court ruled against his use of emergency powers to impose his \\"Liberation Day\\" tariffs.

Reuters reports:

Trump also took issue with media reports about the amount of duties collected that the U.S. government might ​have to repay if the Supreme Court agrees with a lower court that Trump's sweeping tariffs were illegal.

During last week's oral arguments on the ‌tariff case, Supreme Court justices cast doubt on Trump's authority to impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which contains no references to tariffs.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggested it \\"could be a mess\\" for the courts to administer refunds to U.S. importers who have paid tariffs that were declared illegal. It remains unclear exactly when the highest court will rule, and whether companies will be entitled to refunds of more than $100 billion in IEEPA tariffs paid so far if Trump loses.

Trump insisted in a social media post on Monday that those estimates were far too ⁠low, and required repayments would exceed $2 trillion in tariff revenues and investments.

\\"They'​re not giving the right numbers,\\" Trump told reporters. \\"There would be ​an economic disaster. It would be a national security disaster if we lost the case in the Supreme Court.\\"

Trump hailed what he called a decline in inflation since he took office, arguing that food prices and energy prices were coming down and ‍inflation would be down to 1.5%⁠ \\"pretty soon.\\"

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

As Switzerland closes in on a deal with the US to lower tariffs on the country, it will owe thanks to some of its richest executives who played a key role in wooing President Donald Trump.

If the shuttle diplomacy of Switzerland’s top trade diplomat laid the groundwork for an agreement, crucial momentum was generated when businessmen led by billionaire figures from Richemont, Partners Group and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. met Trump at the White House a week ago.

The meeting, which also included Rolex Chief Executive Officer Jean-Frederic Dufour and Marwan Shakarchi, head of gold refiner and trader MKS PAMP Group, was like a gathering of old buddies, according to a person briefed on the encounter. That’s in sharp contrast to the heated conversation that took place between the US president and his Swiss counterpart at the end of July, after which Trump slapped Switzerland with the highest tariff of any developed country.

Switzerland has since been engaged in efforts to reduce the levy, which stands at 39%. Bloomberg reported Monday that an agreement to cut it to 15% is close, and Trump said his administration is “working on a deal” to get it lower.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Mexico raised tariffs of up to 210% on sugar imports from countries with which it doesn’t have a trade deal, part of a plan to protect the domestic industry from falling prices.

The measure, which takes effect on Tuesday, includes tariffs of 156% and 210% on cane sugar, refined liquid sugar, beet sugar and syrups, according to the official gazette, which couched the move as a way to stave off “distortions” in international trade.

Previously, the government imposed tariffs on imports of around $0.36 per kilogram on some sugar imports.

Mexico has a large export-driven farm sector, led by fruits like avocados and tomatoes, as well as two-way trade in sugar going back decades.

The agriculture ministry echoed the protectionist push for sugar.

“In light of falling international prices and oversupply, and in accordance with our country’s international commitments, sugar import tariffs have been updated to protect jobs and strengthen domestic production,” the ministry wrote in a post on X.

Read more here.

China is planning to ease the flow of rare earths and other restricted materials in a bid to exclude companies which have connections to the US military, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The “validated end-user” system, or VEU, would enable Chinese leader Xi Jinping to follow through on a pledge to President Trump to facilitate the export of such materials while ensuring that they don’t end up with U.S. military suppliers, a core concern for China, according to the people familiar with the plan.

If strictly implemented, the system could make importing certain Chinese materials more difficult for automotive and aerospace companies that have both civilian and defense clients. Beijing’s plan could still change and its licensing system wouldn’t be certain until it is implemented, the people said.

Read more here.

Bloomberg News reports:

Switzerland is close to securing a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, in what would be a relief for the country after it was hit with a punishing 39% levy in August, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal may be concluded within the next two weeks, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing ongoing negotiations. They also warned that nothing is finalized and the talks could still come undone, as happened during discussions between US and Swiss trade negotiators in late July.

US President Donald Trump later confirmed his administration was “working on a deal to get their tariffs a little bit lower.”

“I haven’t said any number,” he added when asked about a 15% rate. “But we’re going to be working on something to help Switzerland along. We hit Switzerland very hard. We want Switzerland to remain successful.”

A spokesperson for the Swiss government declined to comment.

The Swiss Market Index rose 0.7% as of 9:15 a.m. Zurich time, led by luxury goods firm Richemont and fragrance maker Givaudan SA. The Swiss franc strengthened against the dollar and the euro.

Read more here.

Pasta made in Italy may soon be unavailable in the US, as duties imposed by the Trump administration make the cost of doing business prohibitive for the pasta manufacturers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Earlier this year, the Commerce Department slapped a 92% anti-dumping duty on the 13 Italian companies that import most of the country's pasta to the US. The administration claims the companies were selling pasta at unfairly low prices, known as dumping, between July 2023 and June 2024.

The anti-dumping penalty is on top of President Donald Trump's 15% tariff on goods imported from European Union countries, for a total levy of 107% on Italian pasta. Rome has vowed to fight the tariffs, and the WSJ notes that the one-two tariff punch on Italian pasta is one of the steepest on any single product.

Some pasta makers suspect the duties are about more than cheap spaghetti. “This isn’t about dumping—it’s an excuse to block imports,” said Cosimo Rummo, CEO of Rummo Pasta, one of the affected companies.

Decisions on antidumping duties are typically made based on technical criteria. But in President Trump’s new protectionist era, some Italian pasta executives—as well as government officials in Rome—say the political climate might have influenced the outcome. “The tariff just seems disproportionate,” said one Italian official.

Trump has campaigned for years against European imports, saying the EU was created with the aim of “screwing” with the U.S. As well as the 15% standard tariff on European imports, the Trump administration has imposed 25% tariffs on European steel and aluminum, and Trump has periodically threatened to slap higher tariffs on various European goods.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

President Donald Trump said he “at some point” would reduce the tariff rate on Indian goods, saying the US was getting “pretty close” to a trade deal with New Delhi.

“Right now they don’t love me, but they’ll love us again,” Trump said. “We’re getting a fair deal.”

Trump later predicted the nations were “pretty close to doing a deal that’s good for everybody.”

The comments were the latest signal of a possible thaw in the trade dispute that has soured the relationship between the US and India.

Trump earlier this year slapped additional tariffs on India’s exports to the US in part to pressure New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil, raising the rates on many Indian goods to 50%. That added tensions to an already contentious negotiation over what the US has cast as India’s high levies and other barriers on American goods.

But in recent weeks, Trump has said that Modi has pledged to wind down purchases of crude from Russia and expressed optimism about trade talks. “They’ve stopped doing the Russian oil - it’s been reduced very substantially,” the president said on Monday. “Yeah, we’re going to be bringing the tariffs down, I mean at some point.”

Trump was speaking at the swearing-in for Sergio Gor, the former head of his personnel office who is now becoming the US ambassador to India. Trump said Gor had already developed a “friendly” relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Read more here.

Switzerland is in negotiations for a new trade and tariff deal with the United States. The emerging deal would represent a significant improvement, given that the country was subject to a higher tariff rate than most of its international peers.

Bloomberg reports:

Switzerland is close to securing a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, in what would be a relief for the country after it was hit with a punishing 39% levy in August, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal may be concluded within the next two weeks, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing ongoing negotiations. They also warned that nothing is finalized and the talks could still come undone, as happened during discussions between US and Swiss trade negotiators in late July.

A spokesperson for the Swiss government declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment. The Office of the US Trade Representative didn’t immediately respond.

The previous negotiations ended with Switzerland being hit with the highest tariff rate the US imposed on any developed nation. Since then, the country has been trying to secure better terms, an effort that gained momentum last week when a group of Swiss billionaires and corporate executives met Donald Trump at the Oval Office.

The meeting went so well that Trump subsequently ordered Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to step up direct negotiations, which he did with Swiss counterparts on Friday.

Read more here.

Reuters reports:

European business sees a far greater impact in 2026 from U.S. ​tariffs and other trade tensions than in 2025, ‌when front-loading mitigated the consequences, a survey by BusinessEurope showed ‌on Monday.

The survey found that trade tensions were likely to pull 2025 gross domestic product down by 0.03 percentage points for the euro zone, the EU and a broader group ⁠of European countries.‌ For 2026, the negative impact was likely to be 0.5 to 0.6 ‍percentage points, with the euro zone faring worst.

The business lobby group's survey was based on responses from its 36 national business ​federations across the European Union and in non-EU countries,‌ such as Britain, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine.

BusinessEurope said its survey aligned with the view of the European Central Bank that the impact of tariffs and uncertainty on euro zone growth was likely to be around 0.7 ⁠percentage points between 2025 and 2027.

Read more here.

President Trump has said his sweeping tariffs will produce a hefty dollar \\"dividend\\" for Americans, as he mocked critics of his trade policy.

\\"A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,\\" Trump said in a post to Truth Social on Sunday that began: \\"People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!\\"

Trump pointed to the boost to US coffers from levies so far, plus the record-setting run in stocks, as reasons to believe in tariffs.

Asked by ABC about the comments, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent focused on the long-term goal of tariffs — boosting investment in the US — rather than the short-term surge of revenue generated.

Bloomberg reports:

Bessent said he hadn’t spoken to the president about this idea but “the $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways. It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security – deductibility on auto loans.” ...

One question surrounding the administration’s defense of tariffs is whether revenue raised from tariffs are de facto taxes, which Chief Justice John Roberts said have “always been the core power of Congress.”

Trump cited revenue flows in his Truth Social post on Sunday, saying the US is “taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion.”

Asked about the president’s comment, Bessent expanded the argument.

“Over the course of the next few years we could take in trillions of dollars,” he told ABC. “But the real goal of tariffs is to rebalance trade and make it more fair.”

Read more here.