Coffee prices declined on Thursday following president Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on US imports – a development that has raised significant concerns across the coffee industry.

As reported by Reuters, the US will apply a baseline 10% tariff on all imports, with rates reaching as high as 46% for some countries.

This move introduces the first US tariffs on coffee imports since the colonial era. Major exporting countries have been directly impacted: Vietnam and Indonesia, leading suppliers of robusta coffee, will face tariffs of 46% and 32%, respectively, while Brazil – the world’s largest producer of arabica coffee—will see a 10% tariff imposed on its goods.

Industry stakeholders warn that these tariffs will increase costs and add complexity for US importers and roasters, many of whom are already navigating historically high coffee prices. "We don't know the [full] impact right now [but] there are no winners," a Europe-based coffee trader told Reuters. "This is bad for everyone. For the US, its inflationary while others lose access to the US, a huge market."

Futures markets responded promptly. Arabica coffee futures on the ICE exchange declined by 0.9% to $3.8525 per pound, after an earlier drop of nearly 3%. Robusta futures fell 0.2% to $5,388 per ton, following an intraday decline of up to 2.5%.

The tariff announcement also reverberated through other soft commodity markets. London cocoa futures fell by 1.4% to £6,683 per ton, while New York cocoa prices rose 3.6% to $9,291 per ton, buoyed by a weaker .S dollar that made American-priced commodities more attractive to foreign buyers.

Sugar prices also declined. Raw sugar settled 2.5% lower at 19.11 cents per pound, and white sugar dropped 1.6% to $543.80 per ton.

As global markets adjust to these protectionist measures, uncertainty surrounds the future of international trade and the pricing of key agricultural commodities.