U.S. food giants seek tariff exemptions amid rising costs

March 14, 2025
Major U.S. food companies, including PepsiCo, Conagra and J.M. Smucker, have petitioned President Donald Trump for specific tariff exemptions on imports of cocoa, coffee and tropical fruits.

Major U.S. food companies, including PepsiCo, Conagra and J.M. Smucker, have petitioned President Donald Trump for specific tariff exemptions on imports of cocoa, coffee and tropical fruits, Reuters reported Wednesday. These ingredients are essential to their products but are not produced domestically. 

The Consumer Brands Association, a consumer products trade group representing the companies, requested the exemption on Monday. The group emphasized that exempting these items would protect manufacturers reliant on U.S. farmers for other supplies and help reduce consumer inflation.

The U.S. food industry is concerned that new tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico could escalate production costs, leading to higher prices for consumers already affected by recent inflation.

Read the original story on Reuters.com.

About the Author

Linda Becker | Editor-in-Chief

Linda Becker is editor-in-chief of Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com. She has more than 20 years of experience in B2B publishing, writing, editing and producing content for magazines, websites, webinars, podcasts, newsletters and eBooks, primarily for manufacturing and process engineering audiences. Since joining Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com, Linda has developed a new appreciation for the convenience services industry and the essential role it plays. She is dedicated to serving readers by covering the latest news in the vending, office coffee service and micro market industry. She can be reached at 262-203-9924 or [email protected].