By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to exempt a wide range of food imports, including beef, tomatoes, coffee and bananas, from sweeping tariffs imposed earlier this year on nearly every country, the White House said.

The order is part of a major push by Trump and his top officials to address Americans' growing concerns about persistently high grocery prices.

The new exemptions - which take effect retroactively at midnight on Thursday - mark a sharp reversal for Trump, who has long insisted that his import duties are not fueling inflation. They come after a string of victories for Democrats in state and local elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City, where affordability was a key topic.

It said any refunds due would be processed under the rules and procedures of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Trump has upended the global trading system by imposing a 10% base tariffs on imports from every country, plus additional specific duties that vary from state to state.

Friday's ordered followed framework trade deals announced on Thursday that will eliminate tariffs on certain foods and other items imported from Argentina, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador, once those deals are finalized, with U.S. officials eyeing additional deals for signing before year's end.

Trump has focused squarely on the issue of affordability in recent weeks, while insisting that any higher costs were triggered by policies enacted by former President Joe Biden, and not his own tariff policies.

Consumers have remained frustrated over high grocery prices, which economists say have been fueled in part by import tariffs and could rise further next year as companies start passing on the full brunt of the import duties.

The top Democrats on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Richard Neal, said the Trump administration was "putting out a fire that they started and claiming it as progress."

"The Trump Administration is finally admitting publicly what we've all known from the start: Trump's Trade War is hiking costs on people," Neal said in a statement. "Since implementing these tariffs, inflation has increased and manufacturing has contracted month after month."