Côte d’Ivoire warns of more expensive cocoa after US tariffs

Chocolate prices are set to surge further as Côte d’Ivoire warns prices of key ingredient cocoa are set to skyrocket following Trump’s tariffs.

The US proposed 21% tariffs on Côte d’Ivoire imports, the highest among West African nations. However, Washington said the new tariff would enter into force after 90 days.

“When you tax our product that we export to your country, we will increase the price of cocoa and that will have a repercussion on the price to the consumer,” the country’s agriculture minister Kouassi Adjoumani said.

Observers expect Côte d’Ivoire to increase export tax on cocoa, whose price is determined by the global market.

Côte d’Ivoire exports between 200,000 and 300,000 metric tons of cocoa to the U.S. each year, according to data from the Coffee and Cocoa Council (CCC).

Last month, Côte d’Ivoire plans to slash its exports of cocoa in view of prospects of a bad harvest.

Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s second largest producer of the main chocolate ingredient, has experienced heavy rainfall that threaten to compromise crops for the second year in a row

Cocoa represents 50% of Côte d’Ivoire’s export revenue and employs a fifth of the population.

The country’s cocoa farmers have also been struggling for years with the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus (CSSV) which reduced yields in some areas by as much as 50%.