Shoppers brace for higher prices on imported bananas, coffee and more due to tariffs
Next time you run to the grocery store, you might notice that the prices of certain items have gone up.
Bananas coming from Guatemala will have a 10% tariff, as will coffee beans from Colombia or Brazil.
The change in prices comes after President Trump imposed new tariffs on all goods coming from outside the U.S.
Gary Huddleston with the Texas Retailers Association says, thankfully, a lot of the produce sold at your local grocery store comes from within the U.S.
"Supermarkets sell a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables," Huddleston said. "Many of those come domestically, especially here in the state of Texas, where we grow a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in South Texas and from Florida and California, but there is a fair amount that's imported from Mexico, especially avocados and tomatoes."
The good thing is that produce coming from Mexico and Canada is exempt from these tariffs due to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on free trade.
"This agreement replaced the old NAFTA agreement, which was a free trade agreement," Huddleston said.
Asian supermarkets, on the other hand, will be hit hard by these new tariffs.
Fruit coming from Vietnam will have a 46% tariff added, and spices from India will see a 27% tariff.
With the changes just coming down this week, Huddleston believes it may take time before customers notice any price jumps.
"I think it's a little too early to tell what impact it would have on any produce or any Asian product that would be imported from Southeast Asia," Huddleston said.
