National Restaurant Association Statement on Trump Reciprocal Tariff Announcement
Washington, D.C. – Today, National Restaurant Association President & CEO Michelle Korsmo released this statement about the imposition of new reciprocal tariffs with U.S. trading partners, which will impact imported food and beverages:
"Applying new tariffs at this scale will create change and disruption that restaurant operators will have to navigate to keep their restaurants open. The biggest concerns for restaurant operators—from community restaurants to national brands—are that tariffs will hike food and packaging costs and add uncertainty to managing availability, while pushing prices up for consumers.
"Restaurant operators know consumers are very sensitive to costs and have kept menu price increases to 30%, while their food costs have gone up 40% in the last five years.
“Restaurant operators rely on a stable supply of fresh ingredients year-round to provide the menu items their customers want and expect. Many restaurant operators source as many domestic ingredients as they can, but it’s simply not possible for U.S. farmers and ranchers to produce the volumes needed to support consumer demand.
"During this time of change, we’ll provide our members of all sizes with economic research to support their decision making and convene supply chain experts across the industry to share efforts for the best outcomes for restaurant consumers and the business viability of restaurants.
"The National Restaurant Association will also continue to share with the White House the real-life challenges these changes present for restaurant operators and ask to have food and beverages exempted from these tariffs.”
About the National Restaurant Association
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 15.7 million employees. Together with 52 State Associations, we are a network of professional organizations dedicated to serving every restaurant through advocacy, education, and food safety. We sponsor the industry's largest trade show (National Restaurant Association Show); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart). For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find @WeRRestaurants on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.