Green Coffee Is Exempt From the New Tariffs. Here’s What Roasters Need to Know

If you’re buying landed green coffee from Royal Coffee, there will not be any tariff line added to your green coffee costs.

At a glance (TL;DR for roasters)

• Green coffee is explicitly exempt in Annex II: HTS 0901.11.00 (not decaf) and 0901.12.00 (decaf).
• The new Section 122 surcharge is being collected at 10% as of the effective date; public talk of 15% exists, but CBP’s filing guidance and the published tariff text implement 10% today.
• U.S. Supreme Court held IEEPA does not authorize tariffs (Learning Resources; V.O.S. Selections). The opinion provides no refund roadmap.
• IEEPA-duty collection ended for qualifying entries as of 12:00 a.m. ET Feb 24 (CBP).
• Refunds (if you paid IEEPA duties) are not automatic; the next steps run through the Court of International Trade and related procedures and may take months or years.

What changed and why (the Supreme Court IEEPA ruling)

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court decided Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (No. 24–1287) and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc. (No. 25–250) in a consolidated decision.

The holding is straightforward: IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.

The Court also clarified jurisdiction in a way that matters for refund litigation: the district-court track in Learning Resources was sent back to be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, while the CIT-track case (V.O.S. Selections) was affirmed.

Refunds: The Court’s decision resolves legality, but does not tell the government how to repay duties already collected. That gap is explicitly acknowledged in the opinion (notably in Justice Kavanaugh’s dissent): “The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning” collected tariffs.

What’s in effect now (Section 122, and what CBP is collecting today)

Within hours of the ruling, Donald J. Trump issued a new proclamation invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. § 2132).

What’s live as of this morning (Feb 25 PT):

• Rate being collected: 10% ad valorem (for covered products).
• Entry window: CBP applies Section 122 to goods entered (or withdrawn) on or after 12:01 a.m. ET Feb 24, 2026, through 12:01 a.m. ET July 24, 2026.
• 150-day limit + extension: Section 122 is capped at 150 days unless Congress extends by statute (the President cannot unilaterally extend past that limit).
• Section 232 interaction: The surcharge generally applies “in addition to” other duties but does not apply in addition to Section 232 tariffs to the extent Section 232 applies.

Important note on the “15%” headlines: Section 122 allows up to 15%, and the administration has discussed raising the rate, but CBP’s filing guidance and the published tariff text currently implement 10%.

Green coffee: explicitly exempt (0901.11.00 and 0901.12.00)

For the coffee trade, the controlling text is Annex II (the product exclusion list), incorporated into the HTSUS via Chapter 99.

Annex II explicitly lists (Federal Register public inspection PDF, Annex II table on page 26):

• 0901.11.00 – Coffee, not roasted, not decaffeinated
• 0901.12.00 – Coffee, not roasted, decaffeinated

CBP’s entry guidance confirms the Section 122 framework is implemented through Chapter 99 and identifies 9903.03.03 as the exemption heading tied to the Annex II subheading list (U.S. Note 2(a)(ii)).

Translation for roasters: Green coffee is excluded, but classification and entry coding still matter if you are the importer of record.

Are we your “broker”? What Royal customers should do (and what direct importers should do)

Quick clarification: Royal Coffee is an importer and seller of green coffee. We are not a licensed customs broker. For coffee we import, we (the importer of record) clear entries through a licensed customs broker and CBP.

If you buy green coffee from Royal Coffee (landed U.S. inventory):

• You are generally not the importer of record for that coffee.
• The Section 122 surcharge should not be added to your landed green coffee cost because green coffee is excluded in Annex II.
• If you have questions about costs on your Royal contract, contact your Royal trader.

Refunds: what we know, what we don’t, and what to do now

CBP has ended IEEPA tariff collection for new qualifying entries as of 12:00 a.m. ET Feb 24.

What remains unresolved is how refunds (if any) will be processed for IEEPA duties already paid. The Supreme Court did not provide an implementation roadmap.

If you imported products yourself and paid IEEPA duties:

• Expect the refund path to run through the U.S. Court of International Trade and standard customs procedures (including liquidation and protest timelines where applicable).
• Begin preserving documentation now: entry summaries, duty payments, liquidation status/dates, and broker statements. Reuters reporting and trade counsel analysis warn this will be slow and heavily litigated.

Key dates and next steps

What Roasters Should Do This Week

If you buy from Royal Coffee: no action required for customs entry.

Note: This post is intended to be informational only and not legal advice. For filing, protests, or refund strategy, consult a licensed customs broker or trade counsel.