In an interview with World Tea News, Peter Goggi, Tea Association of the USA president, commented: “Tariffs on tea are highly unlikely. The tea growing industry in the US is not yet large enough to warrant tariff protection. While progress has been made and tea is being grown around the US, most of the production sites in the US are small and artisanal in nature and are not in any position to replace the volume of Chinese tea in our markets.”
However, President Trump has expressed interest in adding tariffs on virtually every product imported from China. Uncertainty about the US administration’s next policy decision has some brokers stockpiling product.