Coffee Tariff Update for Café Owners: What’s Happening and What It Means for Your Shop

If you’ve been watching commodity markets, supply chain news, or coffee pricing recently, you’ve probably heard two big phrases floating around: tariffs and tariff relief. Over the past year, coffee tariffs have been a major factor in global supply chain uncertainty — impacting pricing, importing costs, and the decisions roasters make every day. Let’s break it down in practical terms for coffee shop and café owners.

What Happened With Coffee Tariffs?

In early 2025, the U.S. government enacted a series of tariffs on imported goods — including green coffee beans — as part of broader trade policy changes. These tariffs initially affected imports from many coffee-producing countries, with rates that could reach into the double digits and beyond depending on the origin.

Because the United States imports more than 99 % of its coffee beans (almost all green coffee comes from outside the country), that meant an initial baseline tariff on most imports and reciprocal rates from certain trading partners.

The National Coffee Association (NCA), representing roasters, importers, and other coffee businesses, was quick to push for coffee to be excluded from these tariffs — noting that there’s no meaningful domestic alternative to imported beans and that tariffs would ultimately push costs higher for consumers and businesses alike.

Recent Developments: Tariff Relief Has Arrived — But There’s a Catch

Late in 2025, the U.S. administration announced a large list of agricultural products that would be exempt from reciprocal tariffs — and coffee was included. This means that tariffs on most coffee bean imports have now been lifted.

This is huge news for the industry — and something the NCA has publicly supported as a positive step toward stability.

However, it’s not quite a complete return to business-as-usual:

• Most coffee imports are now exempt from the tariff regime — meaning the additional taxes previously applied will no longer be charged on new imports under the updated policy. 
• Brazil’s coffee — the largest single supplier to the U.S. — had a separate tariff structure and was initially still facing high duties through mid-November. That tariff has now been eliminated as well, effective for goods entered on or after mid-November 2025.

So effectively, nearly all imported coffee is back to being tariff-free for new shipments — a significant win after several months of heightened duties. However, for most of our origins, the shipments for some of 2026 have already arrived. This means the new un-tariffed shipments may not come into play until later in 2026.

Important Note: Tariffs Still Apply to Coffee Already in the Country

Here’s a key point that often causes confusion:

Truckloads, containers, or contracts that were already imported before the tariff relief announcement are still subject to the previous tariffs.

Tariffs are collected when the coffee clears U.S. Customs. That means any coffee that entered or will be entered into the country before the new tariff policy took effect still carries those duties. That includes green coffee still being processed, stored, or scheduled for delivery. In practice, this means:

• Roasters (including us) will continue to incur tariff costs on that inventory until it’s fully imported and cleared — even though the policy has now changed.
• Tariff relief will only begin to show up in our costs as new coffee arrives under the tariff-free rules sometime in the new year (as logistics timelines play out).

We know this can be frustrating to hear — especially after months of volatility — but it’s important to be transparent about how trade policy interacts with real supply chains.

So What Happens to Coffee Prices?

Last year and earlier this year, tariffs contributed directly to rising coffee costs at every stage of the supply chain — from the point of import to roasters, to café owners, and ultimately to consumers.

Now that coffee is exempt from most tariffs again:

• New coffee imports may land with lower landed costs in 2026, improving margins once those shipments clear customs.
• Hopefully, pricing pressure should ease over time, assuming other market forces (weather, crop yields, freight costs, futures markets) remain stable.

But because prices have already been elevated and some inventories were imported under tariff, that does not instantly translate to lower prices right this minute. It’s a gradual transition.

Why This Matters to Your Café

As a roaster, we’re constantly watching costs so we can build predictable pricing for your wholesale orders. We also believe in being straight with you about how external factors affect your coffee costs.

Here’s what we’re committed to:

• We will pass tariff relief on to you as soon as we reasonably can, in line with our contracts and purchasing cycle.
• We’ll continue to monitor and update you on trade policy news — especially as it relates to green coffee prices and import costs.
• We’ll do our best to smooth the bumps of market volatility so your café can maintain consistent pricing and menu planning.

Wrapping It Up: A Step in the Right Direction

Tariff policies have been a rollercoaster over the past year — from baseline and reciprocal tariffs to industry-wide pressure for exemptions to the most recent policy shift removing most coffee tariffs. That’s progress.

But the benefits are not instantaneous. Imported coffee still on the water or in port remains under the old tariff regime, and those costs ripple through supply chains. Over time, as new tariff-free shipments arrive in 2026, the relief will be more visible in pricing and purchasing costs.

Thank you for being part of our community. We’ll continue to watch the coffee policy landscape closely and share what matters most to your business.