Tag: No Coffee Tax Act

U.S. Senate Bid to Fast-Track “No Coffee Tax Act” Denied

Posted on by Qahwa World

Dubai – Qahwa World

As U.S. coffee prices continue to climb, an effort in the U.S. Senate to fast-track the bipartisan “No Coffee Tax Act” stalled on Wednesday after a single Republican senator objected.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) requested unanimous consent—a procedure allowing noncontroversial bills to pass without a roll-call vote—to advance the bill she co-authored with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Video footage of the session shows Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, raising an objection. His move sends the measure back to the committee for further review.

The proposed legislation is part of a broader effort by lawmakers and coffee industry groups to exempt coffee from President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs”—import fees applied to a wide range of goods. Current tariffs on imports from nearly all coffee-producing nations range from 10% to 50%, with the 50% tariff on Brazil having a particularly strong impact on U.S. coffee prices.

Meanwhile, the cost of coffee for consumers continues to surge. In September, the average grocery price for a pound of roasted, ground coffee reached $9.14, an increase of 41% from a year earlier. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the coffee index rose 18.9% year-over-year, far outpacing overall food and beverage inflation.

The No Coffee Tax Act seeks to exempt coffee from such tariffs, emphasizing that the United States cannot produce coffee at a scale sufficient to meet domestic demand. Combined coffee production from Hawaii and Puerto Rico accounts for less than 1% of total U.S. green coffee consumption.

“I know that responsible, targeted tariffs on our adversaries can be good for American workers and our national security,” said Cortez Masto. “There’s a smart way to do this—but taxing our coffee and raising prices for Americans isn’t it.”

In response, Crapo argued that the Senate should not make “one-off exceptions” for individual goods “in isolation of a larger negotiating strategy and broader stakeholder concerns.”

He also noted that coffee already benefits from tariff exemptions through recent trade agreements with Cambodia and Malaysia—though those two nations together account for less than 0.1% of global coffee production, according to USDA data.

US Congress Moves to Exempt Coffee from Tariffs

Posted on by Qahwa World

Dubai – Qahwa World 

A bipartisan bill titled the “No Coffee Tax Act” has been introduced to the United States Congress, aiming to repeal tariffs placed on coffee imports under the Trump administration.

The United States is the largest coffee importer in the world, with production limited only to Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Yet, tariffs currently affect major exporting nations. Goods from Brazil face a 50% tariff, Vietnam 20%, India 50%, Mexico 25%, and Indonesia 19%, all above the administration’s base rate of 10%.

The bill, sponsored by Nebraska Representative Don Bacon and California Representative Ro Khanna, has already drawn support from Virginia’s Don Beyer and New Hampshire’s Maggie Goodlander.

Bacon emphasised that taxing a crop not grown at scale in the US is harmful to consumers: “Families across America are already paying 21% more for coffee. Tariffs on a product we cannot produce commercially only make things worse. They are simply a tax on consumers, raising costs without creating jobs.”

He further highlighted that Congress, under Article One of the Constitution, holds tariff-setting authority, and this legislation reasserts that power.

If passed, the bill would exempt coffee—green, roasted, decaffeinated, husks, skins, and substitutes containing coffee—from any tariffs imposed after January 19, 2025.

The US coffee industry has strongly supported the measure, arguing that coffee cannot be grown at a scale sufficient to meet demand. A petition launched by roaster Coffee Bros in April 2025 has already gathered nearly 15,000 signatures.

Khanna compared the tariffs to Britain’s tax on tea before the American Revolution: “Americans started a revolution over a tax on tea. Today, US coffee prices have surged in part due to these tariffs. Our bipartisan bill is simple—it removes Trump’s tariffs on coffee to bring down costs.”

According to Reuters, the legislation is expected to be formally introduced on Friday. Bacon expressed optimism that the measure would not only reduce prices for consumers but also prompt a wider debate on Congress reclaiming its constitutional role in tariff policy.