taraf The question is more about coffee that travels “through” the US - as in say colombian coffee imported to New Jersey and then roasted there and packed for shipment to the US and Canada…. or what if its imported to the US and then forwarded directly on to Canada without anything being done to it, just as raw beans?
The ups and downs and arounds of tariff talk from both the US and Canada and stuff under USMCA and so on has gotten to the point even the lady here at work who is our import/export coordinator is confused by what the rules are on a day to day basis, and her vendors, suppliers, and shippers aren’t even clear half the time. Here’s an example:
One of the products we make for customers uses a certain electrical cable with M12 connectors on the end. The cable itself is manufactured in Germany (Lapp/Olflex), the M12 connectors that are put on the cable are from Korea. The assembly fo the 2 parts of the cable to each other are done in the US (Minnesota), and the cables are shipped to our location here in Ontario, where the cable gets built into an assembly, which then may be shipped locally in Canada, back to the US, may be shipped to Europe, or may be shipped to Asia/Oceania. How many different times/places should a tariff be slapped on? On the cable on its way into the US, on the connector on its way into the US, on the cable assembly on its way into Canada, and on the upper level assembly on its way back into the US? Or are there tariff exemptions on things imported strictly for export? And if so which countries have those exemptions and how much are they and how do you qualify for them? These have always been questions, but in the current “whirlwind” of US tariff carnival, no one seems to know.
Coffee is just one more of the victims of this global trade debacle.
