Trump’s tariffs are crushing small businesses like mine

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OPINION – As an immigrant from France, I came here to build a life and a business. That’s what I’ve done. I got married, raised a family, and for many years I have been living my version of the American dream.

At Moschetti Coffee Roasting in Vallejo, California, we’ve been roasting and delivering fresh coffee beans to Bay Area restaurants since 1990. That’s 35 years of roasting coffee beans daily, working with a team of 13 people. We’re a small business, but we’re part of a much larger story.

Right now, we’re being hit hard by Trump’s misguided tariff policies. These tariffs include steep duties on the coffee we import, which affects the price of every cup.

The impact is far-reaching. A staggering 99.5% of the coffee consumed in the U.S. is imported— only about half a percent is grown domestically, primarily in Hawaii.

Historically, both Democratic and Republican administrations have made coffee imports duty-free, recognizing that there’s no real domestic coffee industry to protect.

And not just on coffee beans, these tariffs affect everything we need to run our business. Trump’s tariffs on aluminum means my roaster parts cost more to replace. His tariff on plastic means the cost of packaging has skyrocketed. Everything from compostable cups to t-shirts, the companies we rely on to run our business have all raised their prices in direct response to Trump’s tariffs.

These added costs are forcing us to raise prices, strain long-standing relationships, and I question how long we can keep doing this.

This isn’t isolated to my business, or even the Bay Area. According to a survey conducted in March by Small Business for America’s Future, 71% of small business owners anticipated that they would need to raise prices for consumers to offset those costs.

While Trump may claim these tariffs are about putting “America First,” the reality is they’re simply making your morning cup of coffee more expensive.

We’ve had to raise our prices just to stay afloat, but soon, the companies we sell to will raise their prices too to offset the increase. Eventually, this ripple effect will reach coffee drinkers. At this rate, how long will it be before a simple cup of coffee costs $15 or even $20?

And who will get the blame? The local café? The roaster? Or the policymakers who created these costs behind the scenes.

We don’t have lawyers or supply chain consultants to manage this, and we won’t move our supply chains overseas. We’re a local business, built on trust and consistency. When I walk into a restaurant that’s been buying from me for 25 years and tell them I have to raise prices again, it’s not just a transaction, it’s a conversation with a friend. And it’s one I’ve had far too often this year.

While small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, big multinational companies have the resources to adapt to these changes. They can hedge commodity prices, shift sourcing, or negotiate exemptions.

I’ve been lucky. I reached out to my local representative Congressman John Garamendi, who helped me secure back taxes for employee retention costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most mom-and-pop shops don’t have that kind of buffer. We absorb the cost, or we disappear.

Trade policy should work for the people to keep this country running. We are real people working hard and trying to build a better life and business, and we deserve a government that works just as hard for us as we do for our country.

We’re not asking for special treatment, we just need federal policy that reflects our reality. These tariffs could wipe out businesses like mine. And once a small business with 35 years of trust and community is gone, it can’t simply be rebuilt.

Fabrice Moschetti is the founder & owner of Moschetti, Inc.