Latest news with #JohannaFoods
CNN
10 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Orange juice importer sues Trump, says Brazil tariffs will mean higher prices for consumers
President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazil could push up the cost of orange juice at major American supermarkets like Aldi, Walmart and Wegmans by as much as 25%, according to one US-based orange juice importer. Johanna Foods, a US-based importer and seller of orange juice, has sued the Trump administration, alleging that the threatened 50% tariffs on goods imported into the United States from Brazil would cause a nearly $70 million hit to its business and result in steeply higher prices for consumers. New Jersey-based Johanna Foods on Friday filed a complaint in the Court of International Trade in New York, claiming that President Donald Trump's July 9 letter to Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announcing the tariff wasn't a formal executive order, nor did it invoke any legal basis for which the tariff could be imposed. Classifying itself as a 'cornerstone of the national orange juice supply chain,' Johanna Foods said in the complaint that it and its Spokane, Washington-based subsidiary Johanna Beverage Company supply nearly 75% of private label not-from-concentrate orange juice customers in the United States. Brazil is the largest producer of orange juice in the world, accounting for 75% of global exports, and supplies more than half of the OJ consumed in America, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Johanna Foods supplies retailers such Aldi, Walmart, Sam's Club, Wegmans, Safeway and Albertsons, according to the complaint. Johanna Foods also sells its branded orange juice, Tree Ripe, to stores mostly in the Northeast. But the entirety of that orange juice come from Brazil, the company said. Johanna Foods estimated that a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods including OJ would cause the company's annual costs to surge by an additional $68 million, an amount that 'exceeds any single year of profits in the 30-year history' of the business, the company claimed. Importers initially pay all duties and tariffs and then pass those on 'dollar for dollar' to the company, Johanna Foods noted in the complaint. Such a cost spike would pose an 'immediate and unmanageable financial burden' that would force Johanna Foods to raise prices on its customers that would in turn cause a 20% to 25% price hike for consumers, the company estimated. The added costs also could imperil the company's 685-person workforce in New Jersey and Washington, the company alleged. The company noted that the tariffs threaten to cause a 'significant, and perhaps prohibitive' price increase for a breakfast staple. 'The not-from-concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet [Johanna Foods'] production needs,' according to the complaint. 'Presently, oranges grown in Florida are used primarily for producing orange juice concentrate due to poor quality of the product, with very little of the crop dedicated to [not-from-concentrate orange juice].' Plus, the Florida citrus market has been negatively impacted in recent decades by crop disease, hurricanes and urban development. Florida's orange crop in 2025 could be the lowest in 95 years, according to the USDA's most recent Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, published in March. Florida's not alone in its crop woes. Extreme heat and a historic drought in Brazil have hampered output, causing prices to climb steeply in recent years. The average price of a 12-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate hit a record high of $4.49 in June, up 55% from 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. Johanna Foods is the latest small business to sue the administration over its tariffs. In late-May, the US trade court ruled in favor of the businesses, finding Trump exceeded his presidential authority to impose the country-wide tariffs. However, a federal appeals court allowed those tariffs to take effect while they're under further review in court. The company asked the court to declare that the Brazil tariff is unconstitutional, in that it's not allowed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and to prevent the administration from enforcing the broader countrywide tariffs announced on April 2. The Trump administration has not officially formalized a 50% tariff on Brazil nor provided a mechanism for how it would be levied. 'The administration is legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement emailed to CNN. The letter to Brazil tied the massive, proposed tariff to Trump's discontent with the ongoing criminal trial against the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing ally of Trump's who was charged with plotting a coup d'état to remain in power. It wasn't the first time Trump used the threat of tariffs to try to influence other countries' domestic policy decisions. He threatened Colombia with higher tariffs if the country didn't accept deportees from the US (Colombia ultimately accepted the deportees and avoided those tariffs.) Trump also imposed tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China over claims that they enabled fentanyl trade and facilitated illegal migration to the United States. Still, Trump's letter to Brazil included a stipulation similar to those made to other heads of state: That there would be 'no tariff' if the country or its companies decided to manufacture in the United States. However, unlike the more than 20 other countries that received tariff threats that same week, the United States ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year. CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald contributed to this report.
CNN
10 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Orange juice importer sues Trump, says Brazil tariffs will mean higher prices for consumers
President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazil could push up the cost of orange juice at major American supermarkets like Aldi, Walmart and Wegmans by as much as 25%, according to one US-based orange juice importer. Johanna Foods, a US-based importer and seller of orange juice, has sued the Trump administration, alleging that the threatened 50% tariffs on goods imported into the United States from Brazil would cause a nearly $70 million hit to its business and result in steeply higher prices for consumers. New Jersey-based Johanna Foods on Friday filed a complaint in the Court of International Trade in New York, claiming that President Donald Trump's July 9 letter to Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announcing the tariff wasn't a formal executive order, nor did it invoke any legal basis for which the tariff could be imposed. Classifying itself as a 'cornerstone of the national orange juice supply chain,' Johanna Foods said in the complaint that it and its Spokane, Washington-based subsidiary Johanna Beverage Company supply nearly 75% of private label not-from-concentrate orange juice customers in the United States. Brazil is the largest producer of orange juice in the world, accounting for 75% of global exports, and supplies more than half of the OJ consumed in America, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Johanna Foods supplies retailers such Aldi, Walmart, Sam's Club, Wegmans, Safeway and Albertsons, according to the complaint. Johanna Foods also sells its branded orange juice, Tree Ripe, to stores mostly in the Northeast. But the entirety of that orange juice come from Brazil, the company said. Johanna Foods estimated that a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods including OJ would cause the company's annual costs to surge by an additional $68 million, an amount that 'exceeds any single year of profits in the 30-year history' of the business, the company claimed. Importers initially pay all duties and tariffs and then pass those on 'dollar for dollar' to the company, Johanna Foods noted in the complaint. Such a cost spike would pose an 'immediate and unmanageable financial burden' that would force Johanna Foods to raise prices on its customers that would in turn cause a 20% to 25% price hike for consumers, the company estimated. The added costs also could imperil the company's 685-person workforce in New Jersey and Washington, the company alleged. The company noted that the tariffs threaten to cause a 'significant, and perhaps prohibitive' price increase for a breakfast staple. 'The not-from-concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet [Johanna Foods'] production needs,' according to the complaint. 'Presently, oranges grown in Florida are used primarily for producing orange juice concentrate due to poor quality of the product, with very little of the crop dedicated to [not-from-concentrate orange juice].' Plus, the Florida citrus market has been negatively impacted in recent decades by crop disease, hurricanes and urban development. Florida's orange crop in 2025 could be the lowest in 95 years, according to the USDA's most recent Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, published in March. Florida's not alone in its crop woes. Extreme heat and a historic drought in Brazil have hampered output, causing prices to climb steeply in recent years. The average price of a 12-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate hit a record high of $4.49 in June, up 55% from 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. Johanna Foods is the latest small business to sue the administration over its tariffs. In late-May, the US trade court ruled in favor of the businesses, finding Trump exceeded his presidential authority to impose the country-wide tariffs. However, a federal appeals court allowed those tariffs to take effect while they're under further review in court. The company asked the court to declare that the Brazil tariff is unconstitutional, in that it's not allowed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and to prevent the administration from enforcing the broader countrywide tariffs announced on April 2. The Trump administration has not officially formalized a 50% tariff on Brazil nor provided a mechanism for how it would be levied. 'The administration is legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement emailed to CNN. The letter to Brazil tied the massive, proposed tariff to Trump's discontent with the ongoing criminal trial against the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing ally of Trump's who was charged with plotting a coup d'état to remain in power. It wasn't the first time Trump used the threat of tariffs to try to influence other countries' domestic policy decisions. He threatened Colombia with higher tariffs if the country didn't accept deportees from the US (Colombia ultimately accepted the deportees and avoided those tariffs.) Trump also imposed tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China over claims that they enabled fentanyl trade and facilitated illegal migration to the United States. Still, Trump's letter to Brazil included a stipulation similar to those made to other heads of state: That there would be 'no tariff' if the country or its companies decided to manufacture in the United States. However, unlike the more than 20 other countries that received tariff threats that same week, the United States ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year. CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald contributed to this report.
CNN
10 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
Orange juice importer sues Trump, says Brazil tariffs will mean higher prices for consumers
President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazil could push up the cost of orange juice at major American supermarkets like Aldi, Walmart and Wegmans by as much as 25%, according to one US-based orange juice importer. Johanna Foods, a US-based importer and seller of orange juice, has sued the Trump administration, alleging that the threatened 50% tariffs on goods imported into the United States from Brazil would cause a nearly $70 million hit to its business and result in steeply higher prices for consumers. New Jersey-based Johanna Foods on Friday filed a complaint in the Court of International Trade in New York, claiming that President Donald Trump's July 9 letter to Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announcing the tariff wasn't a formal executive order, nor did it invoke any legal basis for which the tariff could be imposed. Classifying itself as a 'cornerstone of the national orange juice supply chain,' Johanna Foods said in the complaint that it and its Spokane, Washington-based subsidiary Johanna Beverage Company supply nearly 75% of private label not-from-concentrate orange juice customers in the United States. Brazil is the largest producer of orange juice in the world, accounting for 75% of global exports, and supplies more than half of the OJ consumed in America, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Johanna Foods supplies retailers such Aldi, Walmart, Sam's Club, Wegmans, Safeway and Albertsons, according to the complaint. Johanna Foods also sells its branded orange juice, Tree Ripe, to stores mostly in the Northeast. But the entirety of that orange juice come from Brazil, the company said. Johanna Foods estimated that a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods including OJ would cause the company's annual costs to surge by an additional $68 million, an amount that 'exceeds any single year of profits in the 30-year history' of the business, the company claimed. Importers initially pay all duties and tariffs and then pass those on 'dollar for dollar' to the company, Johanna Foods noted in the complaint. Such a cost spike would pose an 'immediate and unmanageable financial burden' that would force Johanna Foods to raise prices on its customers that would in turn cause a 20% to 25% price hike for consumers, the company estimated. The added costs also could imperil the company's 685-person workforce in New Jersey and Washington, the company alleged. The company noted that the tariffs threaten to cause a 'significant, and perhaps prohibitive' price increase for a breakfast staple. 'The not-from-concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet [Johanna Foods'] production needs,' according to the complaint. 'Presently, oranges grown in Florida are used primarily for producing orange juice concentrate due to poor quality of the product, with very little of the crop dedicated to [not-from-concentrate orange juice].' Plus, the Florida citrus market has been negatively impacted in recent decades by crop disease, hurricanes and urban development. Florida's orange crop in 2025 could be the lowest in 95 years, according to the USDA's most recent Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook, published in March. Florida's not alone in its crop woes. Extreme heat and a historic drought in Brazil have hampered output, causing prices to climb steeply in recent years. The average price of a 12-ounce can of frozen orange juice concentrate hit a record high of $4.49 in June, up 55% from 2022, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. Johanna Foods is the latest small business to sue the administration over its tariffs. In late-May, the US trade court ruled in favor of the businesses, finding Trump exceeded his presidential authority to impose the country-wide tariffs. However, a federal appeals court allowed those tariffs to take effect while they're under further review in court. The company asked the court to declare that the Brazil tariff is unconstitutional, in that it's not allowed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and to prevent the administration from enforcing the broader countrywide tariffs announced on April 2. The Trump administration has not officially formalized a 50% tariff on Brazil nor provided a mechanism for how it would be levied. 'The administration is legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement emailed to CNN. The letter to Brazil tied the massive, proposed tariff to Trump's discontent with the ongoing criminal trial against the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing ally of Trump's who was charged with plotting a coup d'état to remain in power. It wasn't the first time Trump used the threat of tariffs to try to influence other countries' domestic policy decisions. He threatened Colombia with higher tariffs if the country didn't accept deportees from the US (Colombia ultimately accepted the deportees and avoided those tariffs.) Trump also imposed tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China over claims that they enabled fentanyl trade and facilitated illegal migration to the United States. Still, Trump's letter to Brazil included a stipulation similar to those made to other heads of state: That there would be 'no tariff' if the country or its companies decided to manufacture in the United States. However, unlike the more than 20 other countries that received tariff threats that same week, the United States ran a $6.8 billion trade surplus with Brazil last year. CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald contributed to this report.
New York Times
a day ago
- Business
- New York Times
U.S.-Based Orange Juice Importer Sues Over Trump's 50% Tariff on Brazilian Goods
A U.S.-based juice company is suing over President Trump's pledge to impose a steep 50 percent tariff on Brazilian imports starting next month. Johanna Foods Inc., a major importer of orange juice, filed a lawsuit on Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, saying that the measure, announced in a July 9 letter from Mr. Trump to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, threatened to upend its business and sharply drive up prices for American consumers. Mr. Trump has used tariffs aggressively to shape trade policy. In justifying the tariff on Brazil, he cited factors including what he called an unfair trade relationship and a 'witch hunt' trial against Brazil's former right-wing president, Jair Bolsonaro, a close ally. Johanna Foods' complaint argues that such factors do not meet the legal threshold for invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, which gives the president broad authority to regulate international economic transactions during a declared national emergency. 'There is no unusual or extraordinary threat,' the company said in the complaint, pointing to the lack of a formal executive order or declaration of national emergency. The complaint also said that the letter to Mr. Lula did not constitute an executive order. The complaint said the tariffs would increase Johanna Foods' annual import costs by $68 million and lead to retail price hikes of up to 25 percent. Johanna Beverage Co., a related company based in Washington State, is also listed as a plaintiff. Orange juice prices are already high. In June, the price of frozen orange juice concentrate was 5.5 percent higher than in June 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Brazil, the world's largest exporter of orange juice, supplies well over half of the fresh orange juice consumed in the United States, according to Agriculture Department figures. Brazil is also a major exporter of coffee to the United States. The threatened tariff comes amid an extraordinary pressure campaign against Brazil as it prosecutes Mr. Bolsonaro on charges of attempting a coup to overturn his loss in the 2022 election. Mr. Lula said in a recent statement that Brazil would not be 'tutored' by anyone and would retaliate against tariffs on Brazilian imports, which will take effect on Aug. 1 unless a trade deal is reached. A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments later this month on a case challenging Mr. Trump's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs, but has allowed the administration to enforce global tariffs for now.
CNBC
a day ago
- Business
- CNBC
Orange juice importer says Brazil tariffs will raise prices for American consumers
Orange juice prices could rise by 20% to 25%, according to Johanna Foods, a small U.S. business suing the White House over tariffs threatened against Brazil. President Donald Trump said in a July 9 letter to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that he would apply a 50% tariff to all imports from Brazil starting Aug. 1. Trump said the high tariff rate was necessary because of "the way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro." Prosecutors in Brazil have alleged that Bolsonaro was part of a scheme that included a plan to assassinate the country's current president, who defeated him in the last election, and Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing. Trump also said Brazil was censoring U.S.-based social media platforms and was running "unsustainable Trade Deficits" with the United States. However, the United States has a goods trade surplus with Brazil — more than $7 billion last year, according to data from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Johanna Foods, which says it supplies nearly 75% of all private label "not from concentrate" orange juice to customers in the U.S., says those arguments do not constitute an economic emergency and therefore the president does not have the power to levy this tariff. "The Brazil Letter does not refer to any legal or statutory authority under which the Brazil Tariff can be imposed by the President," the company's attorney Marc Kaplin writes in a filing. "The Brazil Letter does not constitute a proper executive action, is not an Executive Order, does not reference or incorporate any Executive Orders or modify or amend any existing Executive Order," the attorney continued. The company said some of its customers include Walmart, Aldi, Wegman's, Safeway and Albertsons. Johanna Foods CEO Robert Facchina said the duty would result in an estimated $68 million hit, exceeding any single year of profits since the company was created in 1995. "The Brazil Tariff will result in a significant, and perhaps prohibitive, price increase in a staple American breakfast food," the lawsuit reads. "The not from concentrate orange juice ingredients imported from Brazil are not reasonably available from any supplier in the United States in sufficient quantity or quality to meet the Plaintiffs' production needs." Orange juice prices have already been rising across the country. Over the last year, the average price of a 16 ounce container of orange juice rose 23 cents, or more than 5%, to $4.49, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Orange juice futures, the global benchmark that tracks the commodity, have also jumped recently. During the last month, they are up nearly 40%, with most of that increase coming on the heels of Trump's threat. Brazil's Supreme Court ruled last month that social media companies can be held accountable for the content posted on their platforms. Elon Musk's social media site, X, was also briefly banned last year in Brazil after Musk refused to comply with a court request to ban some accounts. Facchina says layoffs of union manufacturing employees, administrative staff and a reduced production capacity at the company's Flemington, New Jersey, and Spokane, Washington, facilities are near-certain should these tariffs go into effect. Johanna Foods employs almost 700 people across Washington state and New Jersey. Brazil was the 18th-largest source of U.S. goods imports last year, with more than $42 billion worth of imports entering the country, according to U.S. International Trade Commission data. In its legal filing, the company asks the Court of International Trade to declare that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not grant Trump the statutory authority to impose the tariffs against Brazil, and that the president has not identified a national emergency or "unusual and extraordinary threat" as required by the IEEPA law to impose the tariffs. In response to the lawsuit, a White House spokesperson said the administration is "legally and fairly using tariff powers that have been granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to level the playing field for American workers and safeguard our national security."
