Most roasters who call us in 2026 lead with the same worry: how bad are the tariffs now? Here is the short answer. Importing green coffee to the USA from Indonesia is duty-free. Unroasted coffee enters under HTS code 0901.11.00 at a zero percent rate, and the reciprocal tariffs that briefly swept coffee up in 2025 were reversed for green coffee in November of that year. You will pay processing fees and a customs broker, not a tariff. The money that actually decides your landed cost lives somewhere else: in the Incoterm you agree to, and in how much coffee you can move before it fades.
This guide covers all three, in the order they hit your budget: the tariff picture as it stands right now, what you really pay at the port, FOB versus CIF pricing, and the minimum order quantity that makes sense for your stage.
Last updated: July 2026
Do you pay a tariff on green coffee from Indonesia?
No. As of July 2026, importing green coffee to the USA from Indonesia carries a zero percent import duty. Green, unroasted beans are classified under HTS 0901.11.00, which has long held a free rate, and green coffee was formally exempted from the 2025 reciprocal tariffs in November 2025. A separate February 2026 US-Indonesia trade agreement also lists coffee among products set at zero.
That plain answer hides a chaotic year, so here is the why. In April 2025 the US announced broad reciprocal tariffs that, for a few months, threatened to add double-digit percentages to coffee from many origins, Indonesia included. The trade press called it Liberation Day, and the panic was real. By November 2025, though, green coffee was added to the exemption list (Annex II), because the US grows almost none of its own and taxing it only raised prices at home. A short-lived Section 122 surcharge was then struck down in court and, as of mid-2026, is not being collected at entry.
So the headline number for a US roaster buying Indonesian green is 0 percent. Roasted coffee is a different classification with its own treatment, but if you are importing green to roast yourself, duty is not your problem. Rules can move again, so confirm the current HTS rate before every shipment. That said, the structural fact holds: the US does not tax green coffee at the border, and it has strong reasons not to start.
What you actually pay at the port
Duty-free does not mean cost-free. Even with a zero tariff, importing green coffee to the USA carries mandatory federal fees and clearance steps. Expect a Merchandise Processing Fee and, on ocean freight, a Harbor Maintenance Fee, plus your customs broker’s charge and the compliance filings the FDA and USDA require. These are small next to your coffee cost, but they are not optional.
Here is what lands on the invoice after the coffee itself. The Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF) is 0.3464 percent of the shipment value, with a set minimum and maximum per entry. The Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF) is 0.125 percent of value on ocean shipments. Then come the regulatory filings that trip up first-time importers more than any fee does.
| Cost at import | What it is | Rough 2026 figure |
|---|---|---|
| Import duty (HTS 0901.11.00) | Tariff on green coffee | 0% (free) |
| Merchandise Processing Fee | CBP entry fee | 0.3464% of value (min/max apply) |
| Harbor Maintenance Fee | Ocean freight fee | 0.125% of value |
| Customs broker | Clears your entry with CBP | ~$100 to $250 per entry |
| FDA Prior Notice | Pre-arrival food filing | Filed by broker |
| USDA APHIS | Plant-health permit and phytosanitary check | Varies |
Three filings matter most. FDA Prior Notice tells the agency a food shipment is arriving before it lands. The Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) asks you to keep records proving your exporter handles the coffee safely. USDA APHIS covers plant health, which for coffee usually means a phytosanitary certificate from the origin country. A competent customs broker handles all three for you, and a good exporter has the origin-side paperwork ready. Ask any Indonesian supplier for their phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin before you commit; if they hesitate, that tells you something.
FOB vs CIF pricing, explained for your cost sheet
FOB and CIF are Incoterms, the standardized rules that decide who pays for what and where your risk begins. Under FOB (Free On Board), the price covers the coffee loaded onto the ship at the origin port, and you own the freight, insurance, and risk from there. Under CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight), the seller’s price also covers ocean freight and insurance to your destination port. Same coffee, different amount of the shipping route baked into the number.
For Indonesian green, FOB is quoted from Belawan, the export port serving Medan and North Sumatra. When you see a price like semi-washed then wet-hulled Gayo (the cherry semi-washed, then the parchment stripped at 35 to 40 percent moisture) at 8 to 10 US dollars per kilo FOB Belawan, that number ends the moment the bags are on the vessel. Everything after, ocean freight, marine insurance, US port fees, trucking to your roastery, is yours to arrange and pay.
CIF rolls the ocean leg into the quote. As a rough guide, CIF to a US west coast port such as Los Angeles adds around 0.70 US dollars per kilo over FOB Belawan, and CIF to Rotterdam runs closer to 0.85. Those numbers move with fuel and container rates, so treat them as a starting point, not a promise.
Here is the part the quote sheet does not print. Under FOB, risk transfers to you when the coffee is loaded at Belawan. If the container is damaged or lost at sea, it is your insurance claim, not the seller’s. Under CIF, the seller arranges insurance, but the minimum cover is often thin, and the risk still legally passes to you at the origin port. Read the coverage. CIF is not a safety blanket; it is a convenience.
When to choose FOB, when to choose CIF
Choose CIF for your first container or two. Choose FOB once you have a customs broker and freight forwarder you trust and enough volume to negotiate your own ocean rates. The deciding factor is not price per kilo, it is whether you already own the logistics muscle that FOB requires you to bring.
If you are a roaster importing your first container, CIF is the sane choice. You get one number, the seller books the vessel, and the coffee shows up at your destination port without you learning ocean freight from scratch. You pay a small premium for that simplicity, and it is worth it while you are still building relationships with a broker and a trucker.
If you are an established importer moving multiple containers a year, FOB usually wins. You control the freight forwarder, you shop the ocean rate, and you can often beat the freight margin a seller bakes into CIF. You also see every line of cost, which matters when you are pricing coffee to your own wholesale accounts. The catch is real: FOB means you must have a US customs broker retained and a forwarder booked before the coffee sails. Miss that and your container sits at the port racking up demurrage.
By contrast, the middle case, a growing roaster on their third or fourth container, is where people switch. If you already booked FOB before you were ready, you learned this the hard way.
MOQ: how much green coffee should you import?
Minimum order quantity for importing green coffee from Indonesia ranges from a 1 kg sample to a full container of 9 metric tons or more, with practical wholesale steps in between. Most serious exporters will sell you a microlot of around 60 kg or a wholesale quantity of a few hundred kilos before you ever commit to a container. The right MOQ is the largest amount you can roast through while it is still fresh.
Green coffee is not shelf-stable forever. It is more forgiving than roasted coffee, but a wet-hulled Sumatra held too long in the wrong conditions loses its top notes and flattens into woody, papery flavors. We have watched roasters chase the per-kilo discount of a big lot, buy 350 kg to save a dollar a kilo, then still be working through faded bags eight months later. The discount evaporated the day the coffee stopped tasting like what they bought.
Here is a realistic ladder for importing green coffee to the USA, from first taste to full container.
| Order size | Typical use | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 kg sample | Cupping and roast trials | Anyone evaluating a lot |
| ~60 kg microlot | Small-batch, single origin | Nano and micro roasters |
| ~350 kg wholesale | Steady menu coffee | Growing cafes and roasteries |
| 9 MT+ container | Full-container economics | Importers and high-volume roasters |
Work up the ladder, not down. Sample first, always. A 1 kg sample and a cupping session cost you almost nothing and tell you more than any spec sheet. Buy the smallest commercial quantity that keeps your roaster busy for two to three months, then scale the order to your actual roasting pace, not to the discount. The container only makes sense when you can move a container.
The honest trade-off nobody quotes you
Two trade-offs decide whether this goes well, and neither shows up on a price sheet. First, the bigger you buy, the cheaper the kilo and the higher your risk of roasting stale coffee. Second, CIF hands you simplicity and takes away control, while FOB hands you control and demands work you may not be ready for.
On the volume question, we will say it plainly: the cheapest per-kilo price is often the most expensive coffee you will ever buy, because you paid for kilos you could not roast fresh. A container of Gayo at a great FOB number is only a great deal if your roaster can turn it before the coffee tires. For most roasters under a few hundred kilos a month, the microlot and wholesale steps are not a compromise, they are the correct order size.
On the FOB versus CIF question, do not let a lower CIF freight line fool you into thinking CIF is cheaper overall. It rarely is, once you can negotiate your own freight. But FOB is only cheaper if you have the broker, the forwarder, and the time. If you do not, the demurrage on one stuck container erases a year of freight savings. Pick the term that matches the logistics you actually have today, not the one that looks best on paper.
What this means for roasters and importers
If you are a first-time importer, the path is straightforward: order samples, cup them, buy a microlot or a wholesale lot on CIF terms, and let your customs broker handle the FDA and USDA filings. Duty is zero, so your landed cost is coffee plus freight plus small fees. Do not overthink the tariff line; do think hard about the size of your first commercial order.
If you are an established importer, the 2026 tariff clarity is your opening. Green coffee lands duty-free, freight rates have settled from the 2021 chaos, and Indonesian origins remain some of the best value in the specialty range. This is the year to lock FOB relationships, control your own logistics, and buy at container economics, provided you have the wholesale accounts to move the volume fresh.
Either way, the tariff is the least interesting number in this deal. Your Incoterm and your MOQ decide whether importing green coffee to the USA pays off.
Frequently asked questions
Is green coffee subject to US import tariffs in 2026?
No. Green, unroasted coffee enters the US duty-free under HTS code 0901.11.00. Green coffee was exempted from the 2025 reciprocal tariffs in November 2025, and a February 2026 US-Indonesia agreement lists coffee at zero. You still pay small federal fees, but no tariff. Confirm the current HTS rate before each shipment.
What is the difference between FOB and CIF for coffee?
FOB (Free On Board) means the price covers the coffee loaded onto the ship at the origin port, and you pay for freight and insurance from there. CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) means the seller’s price also covers ocean freight and insurance to your destination port. FOB gives you control; CIF gives you simplicity.
What is the minimum order to import green coffee from Indonesia?
Minimum order quantity ranges from a 1 kg sample to a 9 metric ton container. Practical steps in between include a roughly 60 kg microlot and a 350 kg wholesale lot. Most exporters let you sample and buy small before committing to a container, so start with the amount you can roast fresh in two to three months.
Do I need an FDA or USDA permit to import green coffee?
Yes. You must file FDA Prior Notice before the shipment arrives and keep Foreign Supplier Verification Program records. USDA APHIS requires plant-health clearance, usually a phytosanitary certificate from the origin country. A customs broker files these for you, and a good exporter provides the origin-side documents.
Is CIF cheaper than FOB for importing coffee?
Not usually, once you can negotiate your own freight. CIF folds ocean freight and insurance into one number and adds a premium for that convenience, roughly 0.70 US dollars per kilo to the US west coast over FOB Belawan. FOB can be cheaper per kilo, but only if you already have a customs broker and forwarder in place.
Getting Indonesian green coffee to your roastery
Whatever supplier you choose, start by asking for the current crop year, the full two-step process description (the cherry method plus the hulling method), a recent cupping score, and both the phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin. A serious exporter has all of it ready before you ask. If you want to begin with a sample, Indonesia Specialty Coffee exports Grade 1 green coffee FOB Belawan and ships 1 kg cupping samples of the lots we run from Sumatra, Aceh, and beyond: request a sample or browse the green coffee beans we export.
