The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has formally exempted unflavored instant coffee from a planned 25% tariff on Brazilian imports, a move that, according to Reuters, shields between $2 billion and $2.5 billion in Brazilian coffee exports to the United States each year.
The determination, issued in Washington, D.C. on July 15 and published July 16, applies to products entered for consumption on or after 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on July 22, 2026, according to the official decision document hosted by USTR. The exemption comes as other non-exempt Brazilian goods will still face the 25% duty under a Section 301 investigation announced on June 2, 2026, the U.S. government’s response to what it describes as unfair Brazilian trade practices, as reported by Global Coffee Report.
Brazilian industry groups say the decision removes immediate pressure from a trade corridor that had already been hit hard by earlier measures. Reuters, citing the Brazilian Soluble Coffee Industry Association (Abics), reported that Brazilian instant coffee exports to the U.S. fell by close to 30% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Data from an Abics report cited by DatamarNews show that U.S. purchases of Brazilian soluble coffee totaled 558,740 bags in 2025, down 28.2%, and that during a temporary 50% tariff applied between August and December 2025, exports fell 40% year-on-year.
In a joint statement following the exemption announcement, Brazil’s coffee industry organizations Abics, Abic and Cecafé said that “this decision protects Brazilian coffee exports and reinforces Brazil’s position as the world’s largest coffee producer and exporter,” according to coverage by Valor International. Valor also reported that, according to Sueme Mori of the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), the U.S. government ultimately exempted agribusiness sectors accounting for 63.5% of the value of Brazilian agricultural exports to the U.S. market from the 25% tariff.
For buyers and consumers in the United States, the decision touches a product segment where domestic alternatives are limited. Brazil’s instant coffee industry exports more than 90% of its production to the U.S., representing over 20% of U.S. instant coffee imports, or about 15,500 metric tons per year, according to figures published by Bilyonaryo and the Rio Times. Bilyonaryo also reported that the U.S. produces less than 6% of its own instant coffee products.
The U.S. trade office pointed to this dependence in its written justification for the carve‑out, stating that additional tariffs on unflavored instant coffee risked “economy-wide disruptions” and that alternative supply sources could not reliably replace Brazilian volume or meet required technical specifications, according to the exemption list published by USTR. The same document listed other exempted imports including aluminum hydroxide, certain seafood and wood products, organic honey, pig iron and used clothing, while excluding some high-purity dissolving pulp and specific non-pharmaceutical applications.
U.S. coffee industry representatives welcomed the exemption on similar grounds. William “Bill” Murray, president and CEO of the National Coffee Association (NCA), noted that “two-thirds of American adults drink coffee each day – more than any other beverage, including water – and today they can do so with confidence that new tariffs will not affect the largest source of their favourite beverage,” in a statement quoted by Global Coffee Report. In the same report, Murray added that the United States “can’t grow coffee to meet our needs,” and said the exemptions make “critical contributions to easing cost-of-living pressures.”
For Brazilian exporters, the U.S. decision follows a volatile period marked by shifting tariff regimes. Abics executive director Aguinaldo José de Lima told a public hearing of U.S. trade officials that “by imposing additional tariffs, the first impact falls on companies and jobs, and those higher costs will ultimately be passed on to American consumers,” according to Bilyonaryo. He also said the U.S. depends on imports and that there were “no suppliers capable of replacing Brazil’s volumes at comparable prices.”
Despite the recent exemption for unflavored instant coffee, trade bodies stress that the broader policy environment remains unsettled. The Brazilian Specialty Coffee Association (BSCA) has warned that there remains a risk of a separate 12.5% tariff on Brazilian coffee arising from a second USTR investigation, according to a report by Valor International, while the 25% Section 301 tariff on non-exempt Brazilian imports is set to take effect on July 22, 2026, as specified by USTR.
