Coffee could become much cheaper with these tariff adjustments

Your trip to the coffee shop might get a little easier if White House officials follow through on their recent proposal to adjust certain tariff rates.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besent said Wednesday that the United States may soon reduce tariffs on items that are not easily produced domestically, some of which are much more expensive because of tariffs.

“You will see substantial announcements over the next couple of days regarding the things we don’t grow here in the United States,” Besant said in an interview on Twitter. Fox and friends. “Coffee is one of them, bananas, other fruits. Things like that. This will bring prices down very quickly.”

Coffee prices are rising by about 20%

Coffee prices have risen dramatically in recent months, with exports from Brazil, one of the world’s leading coffee producers, facing tariffs of up to 50%. The latest CPI inflation report showed that coffee prices were nearly 19% higher in September than at the same time last year. Another leading product in Brazil, banana prices are approximately 7% higher.

This move comes at a time when some have criticized the broad US tariffs for raising the prices of products that are not easy to grow or manufacture in the United States. Only some parts of Hawaii and Florida have the climate necessary to grow bananas, according to the Tax Foundation, while Brazilian coffee is also difficult to match.

“As much as Brazilian coffee has a unique flavor, American producers simply cannot produce ‘Brazilian coffee’ in the United States,” the Tax Foundation team, led by economist Alex Durante, wrote. “In this case, some consumers may simply choose to pay a higher import price for Brazilian coffee rather than switch to another type.”

Lawmakers have cited the impact of tariffs on coffee prices, including a bipartisan group of House members who have introduced legislation to eliminate tariffs on all coffee products.

“Families across America are feeling the cost of rising coffee prices… and imposing tariffs on a product we can’t grow on a large commercial scale makes that worse,” Don Bacon, a Republican representative from Nebraska, said in a statement. “Tariffs are simply a tax on American consumers, raising the prices of everyday goods without creating jobs or bringing production ashore.”