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Mexico Retaliates Against U.S. Imposed Tariffs Outlining Tariffs Of Their Own On U.S. Products Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

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These Are All the Foods Being Affected by Trump’s Trade War

Countries such as China and Mexico have introduced retaliatory tariffs on scores of American goods including coffee, pork, soybeans, and whiskey

This post was last updated, with new information about coffee, lamb, liquor, peas, and spinach, on September 24, 2018.


Trump’s trade war is heating up: In response to the U.S. slapping tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, not to mention tech goods and other consumer products made abroad, major trade partners including Canada, China, the European Union, and Turkey have imposed retaliatory tariffs on a wide array of American goods. India has also threatened to impose tariffs on U.S. goods. Among them, not surprisingly, are our home-grown food and beverages including coffee, whiskey, pork, and produce. Economic experts and politicians have warned that long-term, these tariffs could have far-reaching implications, hurting economic growth and leading to job losses.

In April, China, which is America’s biggest trade partner, began imposing tariffs on U.S. goods including soybeans, dairy, and pork, and more tariffs were added in July. “China is likely targeting these products for political reasons,” says Dr. Larry Karp, professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California at Berkeley. “The states that grow or raise these products supported Trump. If voters in these areas are hurt from the fallout of a trade war, they might pressure Trump into changing tactics.”

China is targeting the U.S. pork industry especially hard, introducing a 25 percent tariff in April and an additional 25 percent in July. “Pork is very important for the Chinese, but they don’t import that much and the U.S. share is only about 15 percent most years,” explains Michael Reed, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Kentucky. Though China has plenty of options to continue fueling its appetite for pork, American pig farmers are seeing their profits erode: China is a major market for pork offal, and since the tariffs were introduced, U.S. pork producers are now being forced to sell parts like hearts, stomachs, and feet to pet food suppliers for much less.

According to Reed, the soybean tariffs could be particularly hard on U.S. farmers: “China often imports about 60 percent of the world’s soybeans and over 50 percent of U.S. soybean exports in a normal year go to China,” he says. “That has impacts on U.S. farmers from East Coast to the Rockies.”

But it’s not all bad news, at least where U.S. consumers are concerned: Steep tariffs mean more of the U.S. pork supply is likely to be sold domestically rather than exported, and more supply means lower prices — so Americans could be paying less for bacon and pork chops, at least in the short-term.

As the list of newly taxed U.S. exports seems to grow by the day, Eater has compiled a running list of all the foods and beverages being affected by Trump’s trade war:


CANADA

After the U.S. imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports worldwide, Canada retaliated with their own tariffs, which went into effect on July 1. The tariffs affect $12.8 billion worth of American goods, including foodstuffs such as coffee, whiskey, candy, orange juice, yogurt, and condiments.

  • Coffee (not decaf): 10%
  • Maple sugar and maple syrup: 10%
  • Candy, including licorice, toffee, and chocolate bars: 10%
  • Pizza: 10%
  • Cucumbers and gherkins: 10%
  • Strawberry jam: 10%
  • Orange juice (fresh, not frozen): 20%
  • Soy sauce: 10%
  • Ketchup and other tomato sauces: 10%
  • Mayonnaise and salad dressing: 10%
  • Quiche: 10%
  • Other condiments, seasonings, and sauces: 10%
  • Soups and broths: 10%
  • Water, including mineral, carbonated, and flavored: 10%
  • Dairy
  • Whiskey

EUROPEAN UNION

Following the American tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from countries across the globe, the EU struck back by introducing tariffs on $3.3 billion worth of U.S. goods in late June. Some of the products on the EU’s tariff list seem to have been chosen for their symbolism, rather than for their potential economic impact: Peanut butter, for instance, is a quintessentially American product that never found much of a fan base in Europe.

  • Corn: 25%
  • Kidney beans: 25%
  • Rice: 25%
  • Peanut butter: 25%
  • Orange juice: 25%
  • Cranberries: 25%
  • Whiskey and bourbon: 25%
  • Vegetables
  • Ketchup

MEXICO

After the U.S. imposed tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports, Mexico retaliated with tariffs of its own. The taxed products seem to have been chosen strategically to target states and regions with strong ties to the Trump administration: Kentucky, where bourbon is produced, is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state. The tariffs, which affect $3 billion worth of American products, went into effect on June 5.

  • Apples: 20%
  • Bourbon: 25%
  • Cheese, fresh (including cottage cheese): 25%
  • Cheese, including Parmigiano Reggiano, Edam, Fontina, Gouda, Havarti, Taleggio: 20%
  • Cheese, grated or powdered: 20%
  • Cranberries: 20%
  • Pork (including legs, shoulders, and ham): 20%
  • Potatoes: 20%

CHINA

Since erupting earlier this year, the trade war between the U.S. and China has escalated quickly: In March, President Trump signed an executive memo to tax up to $60 billion worth of Chinese imports with the intent of penalizing China for unfair trade practices, including allegedly stealing intellectual property from American companies. In April, China retaliated by announcing it would impose tariffs on 128 types of U.S. goods, including dozens of agricultural products such as fruit, nuts, and wine, with the additional taxes ranging from 15 to 25 percent.

Once Trump’s initial tariffs actually took effect in July, China responded in kind by introducing tariffs on 545 more types of U.S. goods. (Some items, such as pork, have now been slapped with two rounds of tariffs, meaning the tax on U.S. pork is now 50 percent —the promised of stacked tariffs also makes it difficult to determine the precise level of tariffs on many items.)

The trade war has continued to escalate into September, as the U.S. implemented a fresh round of tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products. One day later, China announced it would retaliate by introducing an additional $60 billion in tariffs on American goods, including more food and beverage items such as lamb, spinach, and coffee, set to take effect September 24. In turn, Trump threatened to tax even more Chinese goods, to the tune of an additional $257 billion worth — though the U.S. is apparently running out of Chinese goods to tax. (Some relief could be in sight, however, as China has pledged to begin reducing import tariffs “from most of its trading partners” as early as October — though it’s not necessarily clear whether that will include the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. is attempting to resume high-level trade talks with China, but the continued tit-for-tat tariffs would seem to cast doubt on that effort.

  • Abalone
  • Almonds (shelled and unshelled)
  • Apples (fresh and dried)
  • Apricots (fresh and dried)
  • Artichokes
  • Asparagus
  • Avocados (fresh and dried)
  • Baked goods including pastries, cakes, biscuits
  • Bamboo shoots
  • Bananas (fresh and dried)
  • Beans
  • Beef and beef products
  • Beets
  • Betel nuts:
  • Bilberries
  • Blackberries (fresh and frozen)
  • Brazil nuts (shelled and unshelled)
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Butter
  • Cabbage
  • Candy
  • Cantaloupe
  • Carambola (starfruit)
  • Carob
  • Carrots
  • Cashews (shelled and unshelled)
  • Catfish
  • Cauliflower
  • Caviar
  • Celery
  • Chayote
  • Cherries
  • Chestnuts
  • Cheese
  • Chickpeas
  • Chili peppers
  • Clams
  • Cockles
  • Coconut (dried, without inner shell, and other)
  • Cod
  • Coffee
  • Cooking oil, including soybean, coconut, and corn
  • Corn and corn products
  • Cowberries
  • Crab
  • Cranberries
  • Crawfish and crayfish
  • Currants (frozen)
  • Cuttlefish
  • Dates (fresh and dried)
  • Durian
  • Eel
  • Eggs
  • Figs (fresh and dried)
  • Fish and fish products (including live, fresh, frozen, fish sticks, fish balls, fish pastes, and preserved fish)
  • Frog legs
  • Fruit and vegetable juices (including apple, pear, pineapple, tomato, grapefruit, etc.)
  • Fruit pastes, purees, jams, and jellies
  • Garlic
  • Gooseberries (frozen)
  • Grapes: 15%
  • Grapefruit: 15%
  • Guava (fresh and dried)
  • Hazelnuts (shelled and unshelled)
  • Honey
  • Jellyfish
  • Jicama
  • Kale
  • Kiwi
  • Lamb
  • Leeks
  • Lemons
  • Lentils
  • Liquor
  • Limes
  • Lobster (live, fresh, and frozen)
  • Loganberries
  • Longan (fresh and dried)
  • Lotus fog
  • Lychee (fresh and dried)
  • Macadamia nuts (shelled and unshelled)
  • Mango (fresh and dried)
  • Mangosteen (fresh and dried)
  • Mei qiang and li gan
  • Mulberries (fresh and frozen)
  • Mushrooms
  • Mussels
  • Nectarines
  • Oats
  • Octopus
  • Offal (including deer, rabbit, and bovine animals)
  • Okra
  • Olives
  • Onions
  • Oranges (fresh and dried)
  • Orange juice
  • Other citrus (including clementines, mandarins, pomelos, and satsumas)
  • Other fresh, dried, frozen, and preserved fruits and nuts
  • Oysters
  • Papaya
  • Pasta
  • Peaches
  • Peanut butter
  • Pears
  • Peas
  • Persimmons (fresh and dried)
  • Pineapples (fresh and dried)
  • Pine nuts
  • Pistachios (shelled and unshelled)
  • Pitaya
  • Plantains (fresh and dried)
  • Plums
  • Pork (fresh and frozen including but not limited to pork chops, liver, head, legs, and casings)
  • Poultry
  • Prunes
  • Radishes
  • Raisins
  • Rambutan
  • Raspberries (fresh and frozen)
  • Rice (including brown, glutinous, and other varieties)
  • Rose hips (frozen)
  • Rutabaga
  • Salmon, Atlantic
  • Sardines
  • Sauerkraut
  • Scallops
  • Sea cucumber
  • Sea urchin
  • Seaweed
  • Sesame seeds
  • Shark fin
  • Shrimp
  • Squid
  • Snails
  • Sorghum
  • Soybeans (yellow and black)
  • Spinach
  • Strawberries (fresh and frozen)
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Taro
  • Tea
  • Tilapia
  • Truffles
  • Tuna
  • Turnips
  • Walnuts (shelled and unshelled)
  • Water chestnuts
  • Watermelon
  • Wheat
  • Whey protein
  • Whiskey
  • Wine and sparkling wine

Turkey

In response to the Trump administration imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum, Turkey’s Ministry of the Economy hit back in July by imposing tariffs valued at $267 million on U.S. goods including items like walnuts, rice,, whiskey, and fruit.

  • Fruit
  • Walnuts
  • Rice
  • Whiskey

Additional reporting by: Veruska Fontevecchia

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