Bipartisan Senators Bring Forth the ‘No Coffee Tax Act’

Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nevada) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) this week brought forth the “No Coffee Tax Act,” proposing to repeal all Donald Trump-era tariffs on coffee while preventing future administrations from taxing coffee imports.

The Senate bill joins a companion measure introduced in the House by Reps. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) and Ro Khanna (D-California) in September. That legislation remains stalled with no scheduled committee hearings.

Coffee remains a weak point in the Trump tariff agenda, underscoring the limits of protectionism when applied to goods the United States cannot produce at scale.

Trump earlier this week addressed coffee tariffs for the first time during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One. In discussing trade negotiations with Vietnam, Trump said, “We want to get coffee down a little bit.”

The new No Coffee Tax Act would eliminate tariffs imposed on coffee after President Donald Trump took office in January, returning rates to 0% for all coffee product types, including green coffee.

The bill arrives as retail coffee prices have climbed 41% year-over-year, reaching an average of $9.14 per pound at U.S. grocery stores in September, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

“There’s a smart way to use tariffs to help support American businesses and workers, but taxing your morning cup of coffee isn’t it,” Cortez Masto said in an announcement yesterday. “This coffee tax doesn’t help American business in any serious way, but it does raise costs at the grocery store for hardworking families across the United States. It’s past time to end Trump’s coffee tax.”

At the center of the turmoil is a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods, imposed in July as what Trump characterized as a response to political treatment of his ally, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil historically supplies about a third of all coffee consumed in the United States, but the punitive tariff has effectively choked off shipments from the world’s largest coffee producer.

Meanwhile, roasters and traders have described a state of chaos in the coffee trade as they seek to maintain quality standards and slim margins without the historically steady influx of relatively affordable Brazilian arabica coffees.

In yesterday’s announcement, Paul said, “The United States doesn’t grow coffee and taxing it won’t create a single American job.”

Coffee is grown in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, yet coffees from those origins represent just a fraction of 1% of the coffee consumed in the U.S.

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