ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If your cup of coffee costs more than usual this morning, some U.S. House Representatives are trying to change that. 

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have introduced a bill to remove tariffs on coffee imports. 

What You Need To Know

U.S. House Representatives have introduced a bill to remove tariffs on coffee


One of the owners of Gypsy Souls Coffeehouse said tariffs have increased their cost of goods 


The coffeehouse said it had a stockpile of beans, but with the supply running out, it had to raise prices


The White House has said the president imposed tariffs to strengthen the U.S. economy and to protect American workers

Gypsy Souls Coffeehouse is known for its sandwiches and of course, its coffee.

“We have people coming from all over to get our coffee,” Dena Gasic, co-owner of Gypsy Souls Roasters, said.

The family-owned coffeehouse has been open in St. Petersburg for seven years. Gasic does all the cooking.

“I’ve been cooking all my life,” she said.

While the sandwiches are homemade, their coffee is imported. According to the National Coffee Association, more than 99% of America’s coffee is imported because there are only a few places in the country where coffee beans can grow. 

“Columbia, Brazil, Indonesia, we use Kenya, the Malabar — we have a lot of customers that are using that. They have their own espresso machines,” Gasic said.

Gasic said their coffee brokers had to increase prices because of tariffs. 

“If we didn’t have the tariffs in place, we would have been able to buy 800 more pounds of coffee,” she said. “That’s a lot of coffee.”

Because of the increases, Gasic said they aren’t buying as large of a selection of beans because she said it’s gotten too expensive. 

“The cost of the goods is impacting our ability to do business and to stay in business,” Gasic said.

The coffeehouse had bought a stockpile of beans while they could, but with the supply running out, they said they had no other choice but to raise their wholesale and retail prices. 

“We talked about it and talked about it, and then finally we said we can’t do this anymore,” she said.

Bipartisan U.S. House Representatives introduced the “No Coffee Tax Act” to remove tariffs on coffee imported from countries the U.S. has normal trade relations with. 

Gasic said that if that became law, they would roll back their recent increases. 

“So, our customers would pay less than they’re paying, we would pay less, hopefully, when we bought the green coffee, and then that would help all of us,” she said.

Gasic is hoping those changes get brewed up.

President Donald Trump has said that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency. The White House has said the president imposed tariffs to strengthen the U.S. economy and to protect American workers.