What Trump's tariffs on Brazil could mean for your morning coffee
Experts and industry insiders are preparing for the possibility of pricier coffee in the coming months, a possible consequence of President Donald Trump threatening to impose a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil.
Brazil is currently the top supplier of coffee to the United States, accounting for about a quarter of total imports, The Hill previously reported. And if U.S. buyers ultimately decide not to purchase from Brazil after the tariffs take effect, they're not going to find it much cheaper elsewhere.
'The U.S. will buy coffee from someone else — Colombia, Honduras, Peru, Vietnam — but not at Brazil's volume or price,' senior coffee broker Michael Nugent, the owner of MJ Nugent & Co., told Reuters.
Coffee is currently grown in America, too, but U.S. coffee consumption far outpaces the amount that can be produced in the country, NewsNation reported earlier this year.
Imposing tariffs on Brazil's coffee imports will also likely affect growers in the region, who will be forced to seek out new customers. One producer who spoke with Reuters said his company is looking to find new clients in Europe.
Trump, earlier this year, had announced that imports from Brazil would be subject to a 10% tariff — a relatively low rate, considering the sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs announced at the time.
This week, however, he upped the percentage to 50, partially in response to the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro over his alleged plot to overturn the country's election results in 2022.
'The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace,' Trump wrote in a letter to Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 'This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!'
Trump said the 50% tariffs are being issued, in part, because of 'Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections.'
The new tariff rate on Brazil's imports is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. It's unclear which imports might be exempt from the rates, but U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in June identified some fruits and spices as possible exemptions, according to Reuters.
Coffee prices, meanwhile, had already spiked in recent years due to a number of factors, including inflation, demand, and supply issues caused by heat and drought in major coffee-producing countries, the Associated Press reported in April.
Reneé Colón, the owner of a coffee house in New York, told the outlet there's no winner when prices rise.
'It is tough on our end because it drives the price up, tough on the consumer end because they have to pay more and tough on the farmers' end because they may be experiencing really significant losses,' Colón said.
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