On Friday, the US government announced many agricultural products would be given an exemption from the higher tariff rate that have been put into effect earlier this year. This includes coffee. But as now is being reported, this does not include coffee coming from Brazil, which for the last three and a half months have been subjected to a 50% tariff.
As reported by CNBC, the exemption extends to cocoa, bananas, certain beef products, fruits like tomatoes, avocados, coconuts, oranges, and pineapples, black and green tea, and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Earlier in the week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced “substantial” tariff relief was imminent, naming coffee as one of the agricultural products that would benefit. The announcement comes days after an agreement was reached with four Latin American countries: Argentina, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and Ecuador.
Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin stated that, despite the announcement, Brazilian exports into the United States, including things like coffee, beef, and tropical fruits are still subject to a 40% tariff. This brings the tariff rate down from 50% on America’s leading coffee trade partner, historically providing a third of all coffee to the US, but is not the “substantial” relief promised.
After the announcement, National Coffee Association President and CEO Bill Murray stated, “NCA applauds President Trump’s action to remove reciprocal tariffs on most coffee imports, which will ease cost-of-living pressures for the two-thirds of American adults who rely on coffee each day, as well as secure coffee supplies for the U.S. companies who turn every $1 in coffee imports into $43 of U.S. economic value.”
Coffee prices have been steadily climbing since the onset of the reciprocal tariffs, the 50% tax on Brazil in particular. The consumer price of coffee has increased by up to 33% year over year, and the price of coffee on the futures market has gone up by nearly 50%. This has caused significant amounts of stress across the coffee industry, from large multinational corporations to humble specialty coffee mom and pops. This new exemption, while a step in the right direction, without including Brazilian coffee imports doesn’t provide the meaningful relief it claims.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
