Congress locks in coffee tariff rates, blocking executive price hikes
S. 3072 — No Coffee Tax Act · Filed by Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 29, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill freezes tariff rates on coffee and coffee products imported from countries with which the U.S. has normal trade relations at the levels in effect on January 19, 2025, and prohibits the government from imposing higher tariffs on these items in the future, even during emergencies. Ordinary consumers and coffee importers benefit by avoiding tariff increases that would raise coffee prices.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a statutory ceiling on tariff rates for coffee products, preventing executive escalation. It is a narrow trade-policy constraint, not a broad tariff reform or trade agreement.
What the text implies
- Freezes tariff authority at a specific date (Jan 19, 2025), which may reflect a particular tariff environment; if tariffs were already elevated on that date, the freeze locks in higher baseline rates rather than restoring pre-tariff levels.
- The phrase 'notwithstanding any regulation imposing tariffs on a country-by-country basis' may constrain retaliatory or targeted tariff authority, limiting the executive's ability to respond to trade disputes with specific countries.
- Applies only to countries with normal trade relations status; excludes countries under trade sanctions or without NTR status, creating a two-tier tariff regime.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects consumers from tariff-driven price increases on a widely consumed commodity and limits executive unilateral tariff power. Coffee importers and retailers also benefit from tariff certainty, which may translate to lower or stable retail prices.
Who stands to gain
- coffee importers and distributors
- coffee retailers and food service operators
- consumers (indirect benefit via price stability)
Named in the bill
U.S. Senate, Senate Committee on Finance, Executive Branch (tariff authority), Coffee-importing countries with normal trade relations
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Oct 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Oct 29, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Finance · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (907 characters) on May 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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