On August 6 — unless he chickens out — US president Donald Trump will impose a 50% tariff on American buyers of Brazilian coffee.
Brazilian coffee isn’t the only coffee Americans find themselves paying exorbitant taxes on. Vietnamese, Indonesian, Indian, Colombian, Nicaraguan, and European Union-produced coffee just got hit with tariffs (paid by American consumers) ranging from 18% to 32% as well.
Brazil, however, accounts for 45% of US coffee imports, and 99% of the coffee we drink is imported (outside of Hawaii, American soil/climate are apparently not very hospitable to coffee cultivation).
How much coffee comes to the US from Brazil? About eight million 60-kilogram (132 pound) bags per year. Americans drink 179 billion cups of coffee per year, 491 million cups per day.
That’s about to get a LOT more expensive, whether you go in for fru-fru bespoke beverages prepared by expert baristas at your favorite shop, or just fire up your drip, “k-cup,” or espresso machine at home.
“DON’T MESS WITH PEOPLE’S COFFEE” strikes me as one of the most basic rules implicit in the maintenance of civil society, but apparently Trump didn’t get the memo.
What’s his political and legal rationale for the huge tax increases on American coffee drinkers?
Politically, he’s announced himself annoyed at the Brazilian regime’s prosecution of its previous president for allegedly trying to put over a coup and remain in office despite being defeated in an election. Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it?
Legally, he cites an imagined presidential power to impose new taxes any time he decides there’s an “emergency.” No such power is mentioned anywhere in the US Constitution — a document which, in fact, reserves the power to tax exclusively to Congress — but he doesn’t seem inclined toward self-doubt on the matter (or any other matter).
The negative effects on your wallet won’t remain limited to the tariff rate itself, either. There’s also the effect on global demand/supply, an effect that will likely linger long after the tariff is repealed.
The Chinese regime, Reuters reports, just licensed 183 Brazilian coffee companies to sell their wares in that very large market. American coffee drinkers’ loss is Chinese coffee drinkers’ gain. And absent a massive increase in supply, that likely sustained increase in demand for Brazilian beans presages higher US prices even after Trump’s trade war insanity ends.
Wake up and smell the (expensive) coffee:
Tariffs are onerous taxes — on you.
They’re damaging economic sanctions — on you.
There’s nothing “America First” about them.
Thomas L. Knapp (X: @thomaslknapp | Bluesky: @knappster.bsky.social | Mastodon: @knappster) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.
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