Q COSTARICA — The weekend brought good news for Costa Rica, as the United States government announced today the suspension of tariffs on all agricultural products.
This means that pineapples, bananas, and coffee, among other agricultural products, will once again enter the U.S. duty-free, making them more competitive.
For months, Costa Rican products have been subject to a 15% tariff.
For Costa Rica, whose economy depends a lot on agriculture, with key exports like pineapples, bananas, and coffee — and these tariffs really impacted important export sectors
The measure applies to several countries, which include Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Guatemala, all major producers of commodities such as coffee, beef, and fruit, not just Costa Rica, according to the White House statement.
“After considering the information and recommendations provided to me, the status of negotiations with various trading partners, current domestic demand for certain products and current domestic production capacity, among other factors, the decision has been made to suspend the tariffs,” Trump said.
In a statement, Manuel Tovar, head of Foreign Trade, indicated on his Twitter account that the Costa Rican government is in communication with its counterpart to clarify the scope of the measure.
On April 2, the Trump administration issued an executive order that substantially altered US trade policy by imposing a minimum tariff of 10%, as the trade deficit, in his view, constituted “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States,” the White House statement recalls.