NEW YORK, April 3 (Reuters) - World cocoa and coffee prices fell on Thursday as investors fretted that President Donald Trump's move to slap punishing tariffs on U.S. imports would damage chocolate and coffee demand in the world's top consumer of the products.

Sugar prices also fell, caught in the melee of tariffs as the U.S. is also one of the world's top sugar importers.

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Trump said he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all U.S. imports, taking the maximum to nearly 50% for some countries and unleashing turbulence across world markets as investors fret about the end of a decades-long era of trade liberalisation.

Top robusta growers Vietnam and Indonesia were targeted with 46% and 32% tariffs, respectively, top arabica and sugar grower Brazil was hit with 10% tariffs for its goods, while top cocoa growers Ivory Coast and Ghana face 21% and 10% tariffs.

The first U.S. tariffs on coffee imports since colonial times will increase costs and complexity to importers and roasters already dealing with near-record prices, experts said on Thursday.

The U.S. is also a major importer of processed cocoa products like butter and powder from the EU, Malaysia and Indonesia. Trump slapped 20% tariffs on EU imports and 24% on Malaysian goods, while the 32% tariffs on Indonesia of course apply to both robusta coffee and to cocoa products.

"We don't know the (full) impact right now (but) there are no winners, this is bad for everyone. For the U.S., its inflationary while others lose access to the U.S., a huge market," said a Europe-based coffee trader.

Arabica coffee futures on the ICE exchange, seen as a global price benchmark, settled down 3.6 cents, or 0.9%, at $3.8525 per lb, having earlier fallen nearly 3%, while robusta coffee futures slipped 0.2% at $5,388 a ton, having earlier fallen 2.5%.

London cocoa futures fell 1.4% to 6,683 pounds per ton, having earlier fallen nearly 5%, while New York cocoa gained 3.6% to $9,291 a ton, having earlier risen nearly 6%.

Dealers said New York cocoa was being boosted by weakness in the dollar as the harsher-than-expected Trump tariffs sent investors scrambling for bonds and gold.

A weak dollar makes dollar-priced cocoa cheaper for non-U.S. investors. Sterling for example gained versus the dollar, making sterling-priced London cocoa more expensive for investors outside Britain and prompting them to sell.

In other soft commodities traded, raw sugar settled down 0.48 cents, or 2.5%, at 19.11 cents per lb, while white sugar sank 1.6% at $543.80 a ton.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/coffee-cocoa-slide-trump-tariffs-spark-demand-worries-2025-04-03/