

The Trump administration said on November 13 that it would lower import taxes on coffee and bananas, as part of trade deals with Argentina, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador, reports BBC News. Meanwhile, on November 14, the administration agreed to limit U.S. tariffs on Switzerland and Liechtenstein “to a maximum of 15%” under “non-binding memorandum of understanding,” according to a statement from the Swiss government. The Guardian reports that this brings U.S. tariffs on Switzerland, previously set at 39%, in line with those on its neighbors in the European Union
The news does little to end the ongoing uncertainty about which tariffs will be applied when, and to which goods and countries that export to the U.S. In April 2025, Trump declared a “national emergency” over trade deficits with a wide range of trading partners, and announced sweeping punitive tariffs. But there have been multiple modifications to these import taxes, and many countries, as well as the EU trading bloc, have used direct negotiations to achieve lower rates.
Read More: U.S. Tariffs Are Here to Stay, Says Oxford Economics
On September 5, the White House released a statement indicating that the U.S. will agree to “modification of tariffs required to implement current and forthcoming framework agreements.” The statement even stated that some imports “might receive a reciprocal tariff rate of zero percent,” but that these would “be different for each final agreement between a foreign trading partner and the United States.”
In Latin America, “initial framework” deals mean a reciprocal tariff of 10% will remain on goods from Guatemala, Argentina and El Salvador, as will a 15% tax on imports from Ecuador into the U.S. But the deals will exempt products that cannot be produced in the U.S. "in sufficient quantities," such as coffee. (The U.S. ranks 38th in world coffee production according to the USDA, far behind Brazil and Vietnam. Guatemala and Ecuador are the biggest exporters of bananas to the U.S.)
The U.S.-Argentina deal also addresses beef producers' access to foreign markets.
The four agreements with Latin American trading partners are expected to be signed within the next two weeks, senior administration officials said, according to the BBC.
Trump received a visit from Swiss industry chiefs November 4, during which they offered gifts, including a Rolex gold watch and a specially engraved gold bar from Swiss-based gold refining company MKS.
In September, Trump appeared at the U.S. Open tennis final in the Rolex VIP box hosted by the Swiss watch company's chief executive Jean Frédéric Dufour.
The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing a legal challenge to the tariffs on November 5, following a late-May ruling from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which asserted that the president had overstepped his executive authority by declaring emergencies over trade deficits and drug trafficking to unilaterally impose tariffs. There is as yet no word as to when the court will issue a ruling.
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