LONDON/NEW YORK: U.S. President Donald Trump's trade tariffs are meant to boost domestic manufacturing. But in the chocolate industry, they're doing the opposite: ramping up the cost of importing already-pricey cocoa and hurting the competitiveness of local factories versus Canadian and Mexican outfits that supply the U.S., according to conversations with 11 industry executives, representatives, experts and traders.
Under the United States-Mexico-Canada free trade pact (USMCA), which the Trump administration has confirmed remains in place, Canada and Mexico can export chocolate to the U.S. tariff-free no matter where they sourced their inputs of cocoa - a tropical crop that does not grow in the United States.
