“Trump’s tariffs are coursing through the American (and world) economy, even if their macro effects are taking time to show up in the national statistics. Consider a case study in the daily institution of millions that is morning coffee. This summer Mr Trump hit Brazil with a 50 percent tariff because he said the country is prosecuting his friend, Jair Bolsonaro. One problem for Americans is that Brazil is the world’s biggest coffee producer, and its beans are in more than one of every three cups of joe brewed in the US Every American coffee drinker either is paying more or soon will as a result. The US has only a few regions suitable for growing coffee, and the amount they produce isn’t grande.”
“Other countries face lower tariffs, but they can’t match Brazil’s supply, and as demand increases for beans from alternative sources, prices for non-Brazilian coffee will rise too, says Albert Scalla, the senior vice president of trading at the commodity broker StoneX… Tariffs at their essence are an income transfer from millions of individuals and businesses to the US government. Like all taxes, they’re a windfall for politicians. In the case of coffee, tariffs don’t even protect a domestic constituency. They are a tax on American consumption pure and simple—a tax on MAGA’s forgotten man,” writes the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board in a darkly scalding take.