{"id":262455,"date":"2026-02-27T15:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T22:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/?p=262455"},"modified":"2026-02-27T15:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T22:10:06","slug":"how-trump-tariffs-jolted-montana-coffee-roasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montanafreepress.org\/2026\/02\/27\/how-trump-tariffs-jolted-montana-coffee-roasters\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump tariffs jolted Montana coffee roasters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first year of President Donald Trump\u2019s second term is giving Helena coffee roaster Steven Ladefoged the wrong kind of jitters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump rolled out tariffs of 10% to 15% on green (i.e., unroasted) coffee bean imports in April 2025, which then escalated to 50%. The fever didn\u2019t break until mid-November, when the White House exempted green coffee from import tariffs entirely. But because roasters often buy months\u2019 worth of green beans at a time, some still have tariff beans in the roaster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When Trump was originally kind of negotiating those deals, it was kind of weekly, depending on deals that were made with different countries … There was a lot of, like, imported food goods, coffee being included, excluded, from those tariffs as well. And so that kind of dramatically changed prices \u2026” Ladefoged said.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Lauren
Helena roaster Steven Ladefoged stands next to the roaster he uses for Montago beans Feb. 26, 2026, in Helena, Montana. The beans he imported from South American and Asian countries such as Colombia and Indonesia were previously subject to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Credit:<\/span> Lauren Miller, Montana Free Press, CatchLight Local\/Report for America<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Federal lawmakers in the House and Senate tried filing bills to exempt coffee from the Trump tariffs<\/a>. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, introduced a bean-exempting bill 18 days before Trump exempted unroasted beans on Nov 14. Reps. Ro Khanna, D-California, and Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, had done the same in the House on Sept. 19. The bill attracted 11 cosponsors in the House, but Bacon was the only Republican to sign on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled<\/a> Feb. 20 that the president did not have legal authority to levy the tariffs that affected U.S. trade from April 2025 until the court\u2019s ruling. By that time, green coffee was three months into its exemption, but instant coffee from Brazil was still being charged a 50% tariff on the customs value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the High Court\u2019s decision, Trump rolled out a new batch of tariffs that, because of the court\u2019s ruling, will have to be reviewed by Congress after 150 days. The new tariffs kicked in at midnight on Feb. 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked how Congress might use its court-recognized tariff authority 150 days from now, members of Montana\u2019s all-Republican federal delegation didn\u2019t speak to the issue directly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe President\u2019s tariffs have broadened market access for American producers, brought in billions in revenue, and precipitated historic trade deals,\u201d Rep. Troy Downing said in a text message. \u201cMy focus has been and will remain centered on the needs of the central and eastern Montanans greatest affected by tariffs like our producers and job creators as Congress evaluates its role in trade policy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone drinks coffee, and it can\u2019t be grown in the U.S.,\u201d said Katie Bennett, of Caf\u00e9 Imports, a Minneapolis-based green bean wholesaler used by coffee roasters across the country, including Ladefoged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s bean tariffs depended on the country where they were grown. Brazil hit 50% for a while. Vietnam was briefly at 46%. Coffee from India had a 26% tariff, while Indonesia had 32%. The fluctuating and various rates caused uncertainty in the business, Bennett said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe put the tariff cost into the price per pound immediately,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWhen they were removed, we removed those costs from our coffee. So ultimately the roaster was paying that additional cost, and it was up to them whether they passed that along to their consumers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tariffs also hit while poor growing conditions were already affecting the availability of beans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were reaching sort of unprecedented highs last February. Adjusted for inflation, I don’t think it’s the highest they’ve ever been, but without adjusting for inflation, it was the highest that we’ve seen since maybe the \u201980s,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortages in Brazil, a major coffee grower that experienced extreme drought conditions before 2025, were a root cause of rising prices before tariffs, Ladefoged said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green coffee bean prices had risen about $1.50 a pound on the commodities market, Bennett said. Any price increase higher than that cuts into the profit margins of roasters. In February 2025 the commodities price for unroasted beans<\/a> had climbed to $4.26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green coffee prices spiked, then, weeks later, retail coffee prices did too. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month that January 2026 set a record for ground roast coffee<\/a> at $9.37 a pound, up 33% from January 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tariffs have also produced wins for Montana, said Western District  U.S. House Rep. Ryan Zinke. Tariffs on palladium imports have helped the Sibanye-Stillwater mine<\/a> near Columbus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“President Trump is using targeted tariffs exactly as intended to protect American workers and strengthen American industry,\u201d Zinke said in a text message. \u201cNowhere is that more clear than in Montana, where the President\u2019s 132% tariff on Russian palladium is ending a hostile foreign power\u2019s market manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, the New York Federal Reserve estimated that American businesses and consumers paid 94% of the costs<\/a> of Trump\u2019s tariffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s tariffs were improving the economy, said Gabby Wiggins, a spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Steve Daines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSenator Daines commends President Trump for working to address trade imbalances for Montana farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers and will continue to work closely with President Trump and [U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer] to level the playing field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all Montana farmers considered the tariffs beneficial. Montana Farmers Union President Walt Schweitzer praised the Supreme Court for ruling against Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a>, which he said were harming the foreign trade relationships farmers depend on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a win for Montana family farms and ranches and American families, but we\u2019ve got a long ways to go,\u201d Schweitzer told MTFP after the Supreme Court ruled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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