Exclusive: US food giants PepsiCo, Conagra seek to exempt some imports from tariffs, trade group says
Companies
NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - Major packaged food makers including Quaker Oats and Folgers coffee asked U.S. President Donald J. Trump for targeted exemptions from tariffs on imports like cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
PepsiCo (PEP.O), opens new tab, Conagra (CAG.N), opens new tab and J M Smucker (SJM.N), opens new tab, are requesting that Trump exempt ingredients not available from U.S. sources to protect manufacturers who otherwise buy from domestic farmers and suppliers, according to the letter, sent on Monday by a consumer products trade group representing the companies, the Consumer Brands Association.
Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for specialty food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically in the letter.
"We believe targeted and carefully calibrated removal of these ingredients and inputs from tariffs is appropriate to best protect U.S. manufacturers and support (Trump's) efforts to lower consumer inflation," the letter said.
PepsiCo and Smucker, which have executives sitting on the executive committee of the Consumer Brands Association, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A spokesman for Conagra, whose CEO Sean Connolly is also on the industry group's executive committee, said the company, the maker of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, continues to evaluate its sourcing in light of possible policy changes.
Trump's new round of tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico come at a delicate time for the U.S. packaged food and consumer product industry. Manufacturers fear having to pass new costs on to consumers, who are already buying less after double-digit inflation the last several years.
Trump campaigned to bring down the cost of living.
Tom Madrecki, vice president of campaigns and special projects for the Consumer Brands Association, said the letter is aimed at opening up a conversation with the Trump administration on exemptions.
Trade enforcement, including tariffs, he said, has to be "done strategically and (it) has to ladder back up to protect manufacturers," Madrecki said. He noted that bamboo fiber from Australia, used in the absorbent pads for diapers, is another import unavailable domestically.
U.S. companies including Colgate Palmolive (CL.N), opens new tab and Edgewell (EPC.N), opens new tab face exposure to tariffs.
Colgate, which makes toothpaste in Mexico, is looking at ways to reduce the impact of tariffs. But the company doesn't expect it will be able to fully mitigate them, its chief investor relations officer John Faucher said Wednesday at an industry conference.
"There still will be an impact both from the initial tariffs, as well as in terms of what happens with any sort of retaliatory tariffs as we look at impact with Mexico or Canada," Faucher said.
Banana Boat sunscreen maker Edgewell said it was looking to lock in prices from Chinese suppliers on sunscreen chemicals ahead of tariffs. Procter & Gamble (PG.N), opens new tab also said it may have to raise prices to deal with the looming trade war.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
India's July palm oil imports drop as soyoil shipments surge, dealers say
MUMBAI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports fell in July because of cancellations in import contracts, while soyoil shipments surged to a 3-year high due to competitive prices and the delivery of delayed shipments from June, according to five dealers. Lower palm oil imports by India, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils, could lead to a stock buildup in top producers Indonesia and Malaysia and weigh on benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures . In July, palm oil imports declined by 10% to 858,000 metric tons, down from June's 11-month high, according to estimates from dealers. Soyoil imports in July surged 38% month-on-month to 495,000 tons, the highest level in three years. The increase was a result of vessels finally discharging their cargo in July after being delayed by congestion at Gujarat's Kandla port in June, they said. Sunflower oil imports fell 7% to 201,000 tons, dealers estimated. Higher imports of soyoil lifted India's total edible oil imports in July by 1.5% to 1.53 million tons from a month earlier, the highest level since November, according to dealers' estimates. The import numbers exclude duty-free shipments that arrived via land borders from Nepal, they said. After buying less edible oil than usual in the first half of 2025, India is now increasing imports to meet rising demand ahead of the upcoming festive season, said Aashish Acharya, vice president at Patanjali Foods Ltd ( opens new tab, a leading importer of edible oils. In India, edible oil demand, particularly for palm oil, typically rises during the festival season due to increased consumption of sweets and fried foods. Even in the coming months, imports will remain robust as refiners try to replenish their inventories, said Rajesh Patel, managing partner at GGN Research, an edible oil trader. India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. Nepal's edible oil imports were 83,000 tons in July, up from 75,000 tons in June, GGN Research estimated.
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
EU-US trade deal sends euro zone investor sentiment plummeting
BERLIN, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Investor sentiment in the euro zone unexpectedly tumbled in August in one of the first indications that the business community is unimpressed with the European Union's new trade deal with the United States, a survey showed on Monday. The Sentix index for the euro zone turned negative in August, falling to -3.7 from 4.5 the month before, ending three months of increases and falling far short of a forecast from analysts polled by Reuters of an increase to 8.0 this month. "The tariff agreement is proving to be a real mood killer," said Sentix managing director Manfred Huebner in a statement. The U.S. struck a framework trade agreement with the EU late last month, imposing a 15% import tariff on most EU goods. The survey of 1,050 investors, conducted from July 31 to August 2, after the deal was struck, also showed declines in their assessment of the current situation and expectations. The current situation sub-index declined to -13.0 in August from -7.3 a month prior, while expectations took an 11-point fall to 6.0. Sentiment in Germany, Europe's largest economy, was massively dampened by the deal, which will require the government in Berlin to have a rethink, added Huebner. The overall index for investor sentiment in Germany fell to -12.8 in August from -0.4 in July, ending three months of gains.
Reuters
7 minutes ago
- Reuters
Korea, US prepare for summit with details of trade deal unresolved
SEOUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) - As South Korea and the United States prepare for a summit of their leaders, topics left unresolved by a recent trade deal provide scope for more disputes between the key allies and trade partners, six former negotiators and experts said. President Donald Trump may use the summit with counterpart Lee Jae Myung to seek more concessions on defence costs and corporate investments, left out of the deal, while non-tariff barriers and currency could prove thorny issues, experts said. No official summit date has been disclosed, though Trump last week gave a timeframe of two weeks. The absence of a written agreement underpinning last week's talks could open the way for disputes, with some differences already emerging in the two sides' accounts of the deal. Key among these was Sunday's denial by a South Korean presidential adviser of U.S. claims that it would take 90% of the profit from project investments of $350 billion by South Korea, which also agreed to open up its domestic rice market. "Even a binding deal like the FTA has been efficiently scrapped," warned Choi Seok-young, a former chief negotiator for the Korea-U.S. free trade deal, signed in 2007. "And this is just promise." Last week's pact was scaled down from South Korea's previous plans for a package deal on trade, security and investment envisioned in the run-up to the summit between Trump and the newly-elected Lee. But Japan struck a deal with the United States sooner than expected, spurring South Korea into a scramble for a trade-focused pact, leaving issues of security and investment for the coming summit, presidential adviser Kim Yong-beom said. Uncertainty clouds plans for $350 billion in funds Trump has said South Korea would invest in the United States in projects "owned and controlled by the United States" and selected by him, though he gave few details of the plan's structure or timing. The allies face challenges in ironing out details of the fund at upcoming working-level talks, South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told reporters on Friday. "People say the devil is in the details," he added. In a social media post, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave an assurance of "90% of the profits going to the American people", while White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said part would go to the U.S. government to help repay debt. But Kim, the presidential adviser, said the two sides did not discuss profit distribution during talks, and South Korea expected the profit to be "reinvested" in the United States. The idea of the United States potentially taking most of the profit is "hard to understand in a civilised country", he added, while dismissing as "political rhetoric" Washington's claim that it would make all decisions about the fund. South Korea had added a safety mechanism to reduce financing risk, including U.S. commitments to buy products from the projects, under an "offtake" clause and invest in commercially feasible projects, he said. Seoul officials have said $150 billion would go to the shipbuilding industry, with the rest earmarked for areas such as chips, batteries, critical minerals, biotechnology, nuclear power and other strategic industries. The specifics of the structure have not been determined, said Kim, adding that loans and guarantees make up a majority of the funds, with equity investments accounting for a small part. Leavitt said South Korea would provide "historic market access to American goods like autos and rice," echoing earlier comments by Trump. But South Korea said repeatedly there had been no agreement on the agriculture market, including beef and rice, despite strong pressure from Washington. Trump expressed keen interest in Korea's quarantine process for fruits and vegetables, Seoul said, improvements to which will figure in planned technical talks on non-tariff barriers that will also cover vehicle safety rules, but gave no details. Other non-tariff barriers such as regulation of Big Tech could be hurdles. "We cannot be relieved because we do not know when we will face pressure from tariffs or non-tariff measures again," Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said last week on returning from Washington. Defence costs are expected to emerge as a key issue during the upcoming summit, with Trump having long said South Korea needed to pay more for the U.S. troop presence there. In addition to the $350 billion, Trump said South Korea agreed to invest a large sum, opens new tab of money in the United States, to be announced during the summit, which he said on July 30 would be held within two weeks. The allies are holding working level-talks on currency policy, put on the agenda at April's opening round of trade talks.
