The National Coffee Association is asking the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to spare unflavored instant coffee from proposed new tariffs tied to separate trade disputes and forced labor.
In written comments and testimony this week, NCA President and CEO William “Bill” Murray praised the Donald Trump administration for proposing tariff exclusions for most coffee types, including green coffee, while urging USTR to close what the group described as a significant gap: bulk, unflavored instant coffee.
The issue stems from two separate Section 301 tariff proceedings. One involves proposed 25% tariffs on goods from Brazil over a range of trade policies and practices. The head of the USTR said the proceeding was launched at the direction of Trump amid negotiations with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The other involves proposed tariffs on goods from 60 economies that USTR says have failed to adopt or effectively enforce laws barring imports made with forced labor.
In both proceedings, a list of excluded products already includes green coffee, decaffeinated green coffee, roasted coffee, extracts and several other coffee product types. It mirrors the list established when the Trump administration finally exempted coffee from the “Liberation Day” tariffs announced in April 2025. Yet the proposed list still does not include instant coffee, of which Brazil is a major international supplier.
In its public comments, the NCA said unflavored instant coffee accounts for more than 80% of instant coffee imported into the United States, while relatively little instant coffee is produced domestically.
“The proposed exclusions should be extended to include unflavored instant coffee consumed by nearly 30 million American adults each day and used as a critical ingredient in value-added manufacturing of coffee extracts, flavorings, cold brew, and ready-to-drink beverages,” Murray said in his testimony.
The NCA’s public comments point to its U.S. Coffee Economic Impact Report, which found that coffee supported more than 2.2 million U.S. jobs and contributed $343.2 billion to the U.S. economy in 2022.
The tariff proceedings expose a deeper tension within the coffee industry: the continued reliance on imported coffee from tropical countries to keep coffee products available and relatively affordable in consuming markets.
Coffee appears repeatedly on the U.S. Department of Labor’s list of goods associated with child labor or forced labor risks. As one of the world’s largest coffee-consuming countries, the United States plays a central role in shaping global trade dynamics that affect smallholder coffee farming, even as poverty, food insecurity and labor abuses remain persistent risks in parts of the coffee sector.
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