Tariffs Plus Cold Causes Coffee Inflation.

As if the cold weather that has torn through the Brazilian coffee crop were not enough, its price has been hit by tariffs. Together, these could drive coffee prices up 20% from current record levels, adding to US food inflation

The price of Brazilian coffee was $6 a pound in mid-2022. Today it is $8.41, with an expectation that it could reach $10. Americans drink 146 billion cups of coffee a year. Vietnam is the other large producer. It has been hit by weather that has dropped the yield, and Trump has hit the nation with 20% tariffs.

Global Warming

It is a myth to think food inflation will not surge late this year. Ivory Coast and Ghana have each been hit by 15% tariffs. They are the two largest suppliers of cocoa beans in the world. Excessive heat in those countries has already driven cocoa prices to near all-time highs. By the end of the year, the cost of chocolate should skyrocket.

Tariffs are not supposed to be inflationary. That is probably not true. When added to the climate destruction of crops, it certainly is. 

Food is a major part of the Consumer Price Index.