News

Most U.S. coffee shops source their beans from countries that have the right conditions for growing coffee. Higher tariffs are making the challenge of running a small business harder.

Why it matters: With tariff rates likely to be higher in the next six months, small businesses are calculating ways to adjust and survive.

Alakef Coffee Roasters in Duluth, Minnesota, sources most of its beans from Brazil, where a 30% tariff was recently imposed, with the threat of it rising to 50%.

• ‌“If a 30% tariff remains on Brazil, I don't know if we'll survive,” CEO Alyza Bohbot said.
• “Right now, we're just trying to hold onto every dollar that we have because we're not sure that those dollars are guaranteed given the tariffs.”

Henry’s House of Coffee in San Francisco sources coffee from Africa, South Asia, South America, and Central America. It faces a 10% tariff importing coffee beans from these regions.

• ‌We either raise prices, or we try to figure out ways to cut costs,” Kalebjian, a member of the U.S. Chamber’s Small Business Council, says. “So, there's this tension of, I have to do something, but I also don't want to lose customers.”

Bottom line: “[Tariffs are] punishing those of us who are trying to employ people, provide good benefits, create opportunity, and keep manufacturing when we don’t have any control over where we get our product from,” Alakef Coffee’s Bohbot said.

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What we’re doing: The U.S. Chamber is calling for automatic tariff exclusions for small businesses and for products that can't be made domestically or that put American jobs at risk.

Dig deeper:

• Small Businesses Speak Out on Tariffs