Pennsylvania Democrat Madeleine Dean grills Trump’s Commerce secretary on bananas
“We cannot build bananas in America,” Dean told Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
America leads the world in producing civilian aircraft parts, oil, and gas.
Bananas, not so much.
Yet, the beloved breakfast-table staple was front and center in a testy exchange Thursday between U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Montgomery County, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing.
Wielding a banana and a confident air, Dean pressed Lutnick on the Trump administration’s devotion to tariffs, one of the main topics of conversation in Washington and other world capitals these days.
She asked: “What’s the tariff on bananas? Americans, by the way, we love bananas. We buy billions of them a year. I love bananas. What’s the tariff on bananas?”
“Generally 10%,” Lutnick said.
Dean then told Lutnick that as a result of the tariff Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, had already raised the price of bananas by 8% in its stores.
“If you build in America, there is no tariff,” Lutnick replied.
Dean shot back: “We cannot build bananas in America.”
Later, Dean wrote on X: “America excels at a lot of things, but growing bananas isn’t one of them. The reality is that not everything can be produced in the U.S.
“Trump tariffs penalize Americans simply for buying the quality goods they want.”
Some bananas are actually grown in Hawaii and Florida.
But U.S. production is around 3,500 tons a year, while Guatemala — which supplies the lion’s share of bananas in the United States — produces 4.8 million tons annually, according to World Population Review.
As far as Dean grillings go, Lutnick might have had it easy.
Last month, Dean questioned FBI Director Kash Patel, calling him “unfit” for office, then suggested he would exact retribution for her barbed observation by asking when she should expect the FBI at her door.
In 2021, Dean served as one of nine impeachment managers presenting the House’s argument on why President Donald Trump should be convicted in his second Senate impeachment trial.