Scott Bessent anticipates a series of measures to lower coffee and fruit prices 'very quickly'

Scott Bessent anticipated a series of economic measures to help lower prices on some groceries. Following the Republican defeats last November 4 in several states, the cost of living became one of the central topics of public discussion. Even the presenter Bill O'Reilly recommended to the Trump Administration the appointment of a "cost of living czar." In this context, the Treasury secretary spoke to Fox News and anticipated a "spectacular" 2026.

Last Tuesday, Donald Trump spoke with Laura Ingraham from the same media outlet and anticipated a lowering of tariffs for the import of certain products, with the aim of lowering their price on the shelves. At the same time, although the president acknowledged that Americans have already begun to pay "some" of the tariffs implemented, he affirmed that in general they are benefiting "enormously."

A day later, Bessent spoke with journalist Brian Kilmeade, who asked him about what can be done to improve Americans' financial situation, specifically the cost of living. "When you think about affordability today and you go to the grocery store, for example, what products are they trying to bring down in price? We know that some products have gone down in price and some have gone up. For example, coffee. The president said, 'I'm going to lower tariffs on Brazil, Vietnam and other countries to try to make coffee cheaper.' What else can you do?" he asked.

"Well, it’s tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you that you’re going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don’t grow here in the United States. Coffee being one of them. Bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that will bring the prices down very quickly," Bessent responded.

The Treasury secretary also talked about the near future. For example, he said that, during the second quarter of next year, Americans are going to feel economic growth in their pocketbooks. "You're going to feel it. I think 2026 is going to be a blockbuster year," he added.

In addition, the official spoke of an "affordability disaster" inherited from the Biden Administration: "It was the worst inflation in 40-50 years, one of the worst in the nation’s history." Bessent referred specifically to 2022, when inflation reached its highest number since 1980.

"Affordability has two components. So there's the price level, and then there is income level. And what happened under Biden was the cumulative inflation, CPI, was twenty, twenty three percent. But what happened to working Americans, their basket of goods and services, food, insurance, auto payments, was up in the thirties. So they felt a real gigantic differential there," he added. To counter that trend, he talked about bringing industrial jobs back to the United States and accompanying them with lower fiscal deficits and more economic growth.