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Covfefe: The Coming Coffee Crisis [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-01-26
Today Donald Trump imposed a 25% “emergency” tariff on all products from Colombia. This falls in the category of a tantrum tariff. It’s not as if it is to protect domestic coffee producers, of which the United States has almost none. This is an immigration policy related tariff.
Fulfilling his pledge to use military aircraft to implement his mass deportation of undocumented migrants Trump filled up two C-17s and they took off for Colombia. Alas, Colombia turned them away. Colombia objected, not only to the intrusion of military aircraft into its airspace, but that the United States did this completely without notice or coordination. Colombia made clear that it might accept civilian flights, so long as the United States went through yet to be established protocols to coordinate them. Trump treated this like the Texas Governor bussing migrants to dump on Martha’s Vineyard, and a sovereign nation said, “nope.”
As reasonable as the Colombian position may sound Trump responded by throwing tariffs more freely than ketchup. Claiming that little ole Colombian is endangering the very security of the mighty United States, Trump imposed an immediate 25% tariff on all Colombian imports and threatened to increase it to 50%.
So expect the price of coffee to go up quickly, and a lot. Colombia provides about 27% of America’s unroasted coffee, to include much of the best stuff (Arabica) that Americans covet. Colombia is the second leading source for American coffee, just behind Brazil. Of course, expect Brazilian coffee to become more expensive because (1) they can, and (2) demand for it will increase and as any Econ 101 student can tell you when the demand curve shifts right the price goes up. No word on how much “Covfefe America First” coffee relies on Colombia (note: I did not make this up, the cult actually has this).
Of course, should prices rise another factor could drive them up even more and lead to shortages. That factor is panic buying. I can personally vouch that panic buying has already begun at the Publix off Warm Springs Avenue in The Villages. Upon hearing of this tariff news my wife directed me to get to the Publix and buy all of her favorite coffee I could grab. That Publix’s shelf is now bare of Starbuck’s Cafe Verona Whole Bean Dark Roast (I took all three bags). I’m not trying to encourage panic buying of coffee, unless it’s really important to you.
In a case of piling on, Trump also imposed a travel ban to the United States on all Colombian Government officials and on all their “Allies and Supporters” (I can’t explain why he capitalized “Allies” and Supporters, but he did). Along the way he also banned all “Party Members, Family Members, and Supporters of the Colombian government.” [Yes, more inexplicable capitalizations]. For the record, I hereby declare myself a supporter of the Colombian government. We’ll see if I am barred from entry to the United States.
Trump ominously concluded that “these measures are only the beginning.” I’m not sure where Colombia may be on the invasion schedule, as in whether it is before or after Panama and Greenland.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/1/26/2299389/-Covfefe-The-Coming-Coffee-Crisis?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
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