A petition to exempt the coffee industry from blanket tariffs implemented by the United States (US) has reached over 10,000 signatures in under two months, as rising prices continue to shift the US and global coffee markets.
Started by speciality coffee company Coffee Bros., the petition has collected signatures from a range of people involved across the coffee value chain, from roasters, to café owners, to consumers.
US President Donald Trump introduced the wide-ranging tariffs on all international imports in a bid in the attempt to breathe new life into the nation’s ailing manufacturing industry.
With the US Department of Agriculture reporting the United States as the 37th largest coffee producer in the world at 50,000 bags, but the Spring 2025 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report finding coffee is the most consumed beverage in the country – ahead of water – Coffee Bros. Co-Founder Dan Hunnewell says applying a blanket tariff model to coffee is unjust.
“Coffee can’t be grown at scale in the US, and treating it like it can under trade policy is both harmful and shortsighted,” says Hunnewell. “This isn’t just about our business, it’s about protecting a global network of producers, roasters, and communities that rely on one of the world’s most important agricultural products.
“We are at an inflection point. Highly desirable coffees are arriving just as tariffs, rising costs, and global instability hit hardest. Small roasters are being forced to choose between raising prices or compromising on quality just to survive.
“It’s not just coffee. Most of the essential goods for cafés and roasters, from paper products and retail bags to filters, aren’t manufactured domestically. Even US-based packaging suppliers often rely on raw materials sourced from countries like China.”
The original petition launched by Coffee Bros. called for attention to be given to the “misalignment of trade policy with agricultural realities” built on three key pillars.
- Exempt coffee from tariffs under US trade policies.
- Recognise coffee as a non-manufacturable, essential agricultural good.
- Protect the livelihoods of US small businesses and the global farmers they depend on.
With tariffs on key producing nations Vietnam at 46 per cent and Indonesia at 32 per cent, Hunnewell says tariffs are exacerbating the issues the sector has been forced to contend with in recent years.
“Many small businesses survived COVID-19 by adapting quickly, but these compounding pressures – tariffs, inflation, climate-driven crop loss – are leaving them with few options.”
