USA - No more tariffs on tea?
It seems as of 11/14/2025, Trump has signed an executive order to the effect that reciprocal tariffs no longer apply to a selection of agricultural products, and tea is on the list!
“The President has thus determined that certain agricultural products shall no longer be subject to the reciprocal tariffs. Some of these products include:
• coffee and tea;
• tropical fruits and fruit juices;
• cocoa and spices;
• bananas, oranges, and tomatoes;
• beef; and
• additional fertilizers (some fertilizers have never been subject to the reciprocal tariffs).”
I’m sure others may already be aware, but I just stumbled upon the news today and thought I would share.
Hopefully we’ll see a lot of countries start allowing shipping to us again in short order, I noticed that AC Perch’s does already have US available again as a country selection!
Excellent news, @Cameron B! I would have been unaware if not for your post, as I have been skipping over most news lately (too distressing).
This is great news, and I hope it will make it easier for vendors to ship to the States again. However, I’ve discovered that tariffs alone aren’t the reason shipping tea is prohibitively expensive. Since the de minimis exemption was revoked on August 29, U.S. customs treats every tea shipment, regardless of the value, as a food product that requires clearance from the FDA. This isn’t that onerous, but carriers can take advantage of the new regulations to upcharge customers.
Here’s my horror story. I recently tried to send 850 grams of tea to California via FedEx ground shipping, jumping through all the regulatory hoops including obtaining a prior notice confirmation from the FDA, only to be told that FedEx ground can’t broker my shipment through customs and I would need a separate broker. The solution? I could either pay FedEx about $100 to act as my broker (plus the $41 for ground shipping) or I could upgrade to FedEx Express for $107. The customer was understanding and was willing to pay, but this isn’t a sustainable way to ship tea. I could have gone with Canada Post, but I’ve heard U.S. customs sometimes destroys leafy green plant material they can’t easily identify. :P
Maybe people shipping from other countries aren’t facing these issues, but for now, eliminating the tariffs might not have as much of an impact as one might hope.
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