Rejoice! Brazil coffee tariffs are now gone! Plus, Rome’s oldest cafe closes after 265 years, flooding hits Vietnam’s coffee-producing regions, and unionized Starbucks workers block access to a key distribution center.
‘US Tariffs on Brazilian Coffee Scrapped’ – via Global Coffee Report
And breathe. On Thursday, United States President Donald Trump issued an executive order lifting the 40% tariff on coffee and other commodities from Brazil.
The order came less than a week after the administration issued another executive order exempting goods not grown in the U.S. from reciprocal tariffs.
The constant back-and-forth on tariffs has thrown the coffee industry into chaos over the past nine months. But the tariffs on Brazil were the most severe—and arguably the most consequential—as the U.S. imports the bulk of its coffee from Brazil.
In the order, Trump said trade negotiations with Brazil are ongoing. However, the order continues, “various officials” had told him that, “in their opinion, certain agricultural imports from Brazil should no longer be subject to” the 40% tariff imposed under the previous executive order.
“You can expect some thousands of bags of Brazilian coffee that were sitting in bonded warehouses to start moving quickly to U.S. roasters,” commodities analyst Judith Ganes told Reuters.
The news was welcomed by the National Coffee Association, which had been lobbying for a coffee exemption. “Tariff-free trade of America’s favorite beverage will ease cost-of-living pressures, keep a healthy diet choice affordable, and strengthen coffee’s enormous contributions to the U.S. economy,” NCA CEO William “Bill” Murray said in a press release.
The coffee futures market has hit record highs over the past year, thanks in part to the tariffs. After Trump’s executive order, the commodity price plummeted. As we reported last week, however, whether this will impact retail coffee prices remains to be seen.
Read the full story on Brazil’s tariff relief here.
‘Vietnam Flood Deaths Climb as Heavy Rain Drenches Coffee Region’ – via Bloomberg
Flooding in Vietnam has killed dozens, stranded thousands, and left millions without power in some of the country’s key coffee-producing regions.
As Francesca Stevens and Mary Hui report for Bloomberg, some areas in Dak Lak in Vietnam’s Central Highlands have received 70 inches of rain in under a week. With rain forecast to continue through at least early December, the Vietnamese national weather agency has issued flash-flood and landslide warnings.
Vietnam’s coffee industry has been disrupted by climate chaos over the last several years. A drought in 2024 led to lower-than-expected harvests and rising coffee prices. Dak Lak was especially dry, receiving just a tenth of its usual rainfall in 2024, according to Bloomberg.
Now the area is being lashed by rain, driven in part by La Niña, the cooling phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation cycle in the Pacific Ocean that can affect weather patterns worldwide. Vietnam has been hit by 13 major storms in 2025, impacting coffee production across the country. “Some coffee farms in low-lying areas of Dak Lak are deep in floodwater,” a coffee trader told Reuters.
Read more on the impact of the floods via Bloomberg here or via Insurance Journal here.
‘Rome’s Oldest Coffee House Was an Ornate Treasure. A Bitter Legal Dispute Has Turned It Into an Empty Eyesore’ – via CNN
Rising rents are affecting coffee shops around the world. The proprietors of Rome’s oldest cafe, Antico Caffè Greco, know this all too well, having just lost an eight-year battle to stay in their famous location.
As Barbie Latza Nadeau reports for CNN, the Antico Caffè Greco sits at the foot of the famous Spanish Steps in the center of Rome. Opened in 1760, it was a favorite haunt of historical figures and celebrities, including Giacomo Casanova, Hans Christian Andersen, Henry James, Orson Welles, and Audrey Hepburn.
In 2017, the cafe’s 80-year lease expired, and the building’s owners, the Israelite Hospital of Rome, raised the rent from about $20,000 to $140,000 per month. “We would be ready to pay more rent to keep the café open but not six times the amount we’re paying now,” Carlo Pellegrini, one of the cafe’s proprietors, said at the time. “I feel very angry, but we will fight this.”
Having lost five appeals and retrials, Pellegrini and co-owner Flavia Iozzi were formally evicted last month. The cafe “was shuttered with the help of the military police,” Nadeau writes.
In a statement issued in 2023, the Israelite Hospital said that “revenue generated by its properties has always been and will always be used … for the sole purpose of improving healthcare.” Antonio Maria Leozappa, the hospital’s special commissioner, told CNN that it plans to reopen the cafe under new management after renovations. “It is a historic café, it is one of the first in Italy, it dates back to the late 18th century,” he said.
Like cities around the world, Rome has seen commercial rents skyrocket in recent years. The Antico Caffè Greco sits alongside stores like Gucci, Versace, and Dior, but many shops on the street remain vacant. “Curious tourists peer through the windows into the empty space,” Nadeau writes. “Inside, the lights are on, but no one is making coffee.”
Read the full story on the Rome cafe dispute here.
More News
‘Peet’s Names New Head as CEO Eric Lauterbach Steps Down’ – via Daily Coffee News
‘Italy’s Oldest Barista Just Turned 101’ – via Sprudge
‘$187 Million Invested To Create Huge Brazilian Coffee Farm’ – via Global Coffee Report
‘Coffee-Stealing Parrot Captured at South Korean Cafe’ – via UPI
‘Manner Coffee Is Said to Seek IPO 10 Years After Starting as Tiny Stall’ – via Bloomberg
‘New Kenyan Farmer Payment Method Suspended’ – via Global Coffee Report
The Week in Coffee Unionizing
The Starbucks Workers United strike is into its second week, and the union is stepping up the pressure. On Thursday, as reported by Emma Rossi of CBS21, over 100 baristas staged a protest at the company’s distribution center in Pennsylvania, Starbucks’ largest on the East Coast. Protesters, joined by lawmakers and representatives from other unions, blocked trucks from reaching the center.
On the same day, workers from an additional 30 stores in 25 cities joined the strike.
“As of now, our union Starbucks Workers United, has the facilities under a full blockade,” said barista and bargaining delegate Silvia Baldwin. “None of the delivery trucks that supply our stores with the vital things that they need to operate are able to reach the facility. We’ve already turned several trucks away.”
The strike began on Nov. 13, or Red Cup Day, Starbucks’ busiest day of the year. Workers are seeking a first collective bargaining agreement, almost four years after the first store filed to unionize in Buffalo, New York. Since then, the union has filed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks, and both sides accuse the other of walking out on contract negotiations.
In a statement, Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said that “99% of our 17,000 U.S. locations remain open and welcoming customers, including many the union publicly stated would strike but never closed or have since reopened.”
Also last week, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani added his voice to those calling on customers to boycott Starbucks during the strike. “Starbucks workers across the country are on an Unfair Labor Practices strike, fighting for a fair contract,” Mamdani wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “While workers are on strike, I won’t be buying any Starbucks, and I’m asking you to join us.”
Beyond the Headlines
‘Big Coffee’s Next Brew May Be Smaller and Weaker’ by Aimee Donnellan
