Coffee Bros. Leads National Push to Exempt Coffee from Tariffs Amid Industry Strain

Coffee Bros. has gathered more than 10,000 signatures in support of a petition to exempt coffee from U.S. tariffs, a move that underscores growing concern across the specialty coffee industry over rising costs and supply chain instability.

The campaign, launched less than two months ago, has gained rapid traction among small roasters, café owners, and consumers facing what Coffee Bros. describes as a “perfect storm” of economic and environmental pressures. These include record-high coffee prices, climate-related crop losses, and new tariff policies that threaten to increase costs even further.

“We’re at an inflection point,” said Dan Hunnewell, co-founder of Coffee Bros. “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.”

Coffee prices have doubled in recent months due to poor harvests in Brazil and Vietnam, global inflation, and market speculation. Tariffs—reaching as high as 46% on some imports—have further strained the market, pushing many toward lower-grade alternatives and putting years of sustainability and quality improvements at risk.

According to Hunnewell, the impact goes beyond coffee beans. Many essential items used by small coffee businesses — including paper products, filters, and packaging — are also caught in the tariff crossfire, with few domestic manufacturing options available.

“Many small businesses survived COVID-19 by adapting quickly,” he said. “But these compounding pressures — tariffs, inflation, climate-driven crop loss — are leaving them with few options.”

Coffee Bros. argues that trade policy should reflect the reality that coffee cannot be produced at scale in the U.S. The petition calls for three key changes: exempting coffee from tariffs, recognizing it as a non-manufacturable agricultural good, and safeguarding the livelihoods of small American businesses and international coffee farmers.

“Coffee can’t be grown at scale in the U.S. — and treating it like it can under trade policy is both harmful and shortsighted,” Hunnewell said.

Coffee Bros. continues to urge policymakers, industry leaders, and the public to support a more sustainable and realistic trade policy for coffee.

The petition is available at Change.org under the title “Exempt Coffee from Tariffs.”

Image: Canva