Struggling Cote d'Ivoire cocoa farmers worried about U.S. tariff plans

In Cote d'Ivoire, the world's biggest cocoa producer, cocoa has long provided a lifeline for many farmers, but adverse weather and plant diseases have hurt harvests in recent years.

Now, cocoa farmers worry even more over U.S. President Donald Trump's plans to impose a 21 percent tariff on products from Cote d'Ivoire – the highest among west African nations.

Although Trump has suspended the tariff plans for 90 days pending further review, authorities in Cote d'Ivoire have warned that such tariffs could send the price of cocoa even higher and destabilize the local market by slowing their sales.

Cote d'Ivoire produces between 2 million and 2.5 million tonnes of cocoa annually, with around 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes exported to the U.S., according to the Coffee and Cocoa Council.

In 2023, Cote d'Ivoire exported $3.68 billion worth of cocoa beans, its second biggest export after gold. The U.S. was its fourth-largest importer of cocoa beans, after the Netherlands, Malaysia and Belgium, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

For most local cocoa growers, any U.S. tariff could further shake a market already struggling with decreasing yields and shrinking funding that has limited farmers' ability to meet global demands for chocolate.

"If we hear the American president is going to put a tax on the price of cocoa, it's really not good for us, it doesn't help us," said a local cocoa farmer.

Already, cocoa prices were rising in the country, in part because of insufficient and irregular rainfall in Cote d'Ivoire.

The UK-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit research firm has noted a 32 percent rise in the price of cocoa imported into the UK over the last three years, partially due to extreme weather conditions in parts of Africa where it's mainly grown. Together, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon produce about three-quarters of the world's cocoa.

Cocoa is traded on a regulated, global market. In Cote d'Ivoire, the government usually sets cocoa prices at the onset of each season, with prices reflecting market trends and global prices. The local prices are, however, lower than the global market rates, thereby limiting the farmers' profit from high global prices.

Authorities say they are already considering cocoa price increases if the U.S. tariff comes into effect.

"Donald Trump's customs tax is causing us problems. We are already feeling the effects," said Boss Diarra, coordinator of the local cocoa farmers' union in Bouaflé in central Cote d'Ivoire. He pointed to bags of cocoa that he said farmers have been unable to sell.

Meanwhile, a U.S. tariff could mean more cocoa for European markets, said Bruno Marcel Iritié, researcher at the Ivorian Félix Houphouët-Boigny Polytechnic Institute. Some of the top importers of Cote d'Ivoire cocoa are in Europe, market data show.

European customers "will inevitably buy cheaper because when there is too much, the customer is king," Iritié said.

(Cover: A cocoa pod is seen on a tree at a farm near Agboville, Cote d'Ivoire, April 7, 2024. /VCG)