Rabbit hole time.

Apparently, caffeine in soft drinks is synthetic. I thought they just used caffeine that is extracted from decaffeinating coffee beans - not so. Also it's barely produced in the US (anymore), and we mostly import it from China.

Neat part is: it doesn't look all that complicated to synthesize and requires some common-ish organic compounds and solvents to make. As a bonus, the "the raw synthetic caffeine often glows - a bluish phosphorence". If anyone is on his Patreon, please give NileRed a nudge to give this a shot; I think it would be right up his alley.

So we can get by without coffee, but short of running your own chemistry lab, it's going to be a bit before industry can ramp up production of the synthetic stuff. Meanwhile, caffeinated beverages across the board would be more expensive were synthetic caffeine a part of any tariff scheme.

More here:

https://www.decadentdecaf.com/blogs/decadent-decaf-coffee-co/174589383-ever-wondered-where-the-caffeine-comes-from-in-soda-or-energy-drinks-answer-synthetic-caffeine

Coffee :(

Honestly though the coffee industry is really awful and I should probably stop drinking it

All this insecurity about tariffs has me hoping he have a Boston Tea Party situation. If I recall the story correctly, they threw the expensive British Tea overboard to protest the tax.

Similarly, I also recall a sugar tax, and either an ink or paper one: basically, I hope I can see something similar to see there's still a small piece of American values from our ancestors (not the twisted Conservative heaven MAGA wants, but on the American dream of freedom, liberty, and justice for ALL.)

No Taxation Without Representation!

It would be interesting to see the first bipartisan riot.

I work at a small, premium pet food manufacturer. People already complain about our prices. While most of our ingredients are sourced domestically, specialty meats are not. Lamb, duck, venison, goose, etc. going up will dramatically raise our prices.

Many of our products are chicken, pork, or beef-based, and these ingredients are sourced domestically. The fun twist is the rise in popularity of breeds and designer mixes that are predisposed to ingredient sensitivities or allergies. Many of these breeders advise against chicken or beef in these dogs' foods.

You'd think people spending 3-9 thousand dollars on puppies would be in a position to afford special diets, but my experience says otherwise. It's about to get a lot worse.

We're lucky, in that we're one of the few brands who utilizes mostly domestically sourced ingredients. I would expect pet food to jump generally, which doesn't bode well for the increased pressure shelters and rescues are already facing.

I am kinda surprised the banana country authorities let this happen at all

Hahaha, shame on you. I live in a country where we make the coffee and we still pay taxes for it.

Hawaii for one

A LOT of food sold in the US are imported.

Apparently, farmers buy a lot of fertilizer from China.

Gonna be some cranky leopards in America.

No more coffee but plenty of PRIME(tm) for all!