At The Tea Time Shop, we’re passionate about sharing high quality loose leaf tea with fellow tea lovers across the country. We believe in good tea, great service, and adding a little joy to your day one cup at a time. But with the recent rise in import tariffs, small businesses like ours are facing new challenges behind the scenes.
We wanted to share a little insight into what’s happening and how it may affect your experience with us.
What’s Going On with Tariffs?
The U.S. recently introduced new reciprocal tariffs which are taxes on imported goods like tea to match what other countries charge on American exports. While these changes aim to create fairer trade relationships, they’ve also raised the cost of importing tea from major tea producing countries like India and China, where many of your favorite blends originate.
India, home to beloved teas like Assam and Darjeeling, is now facing a 25% import tariff.
Chinese teas, including green, jasmine, and oolong varieties, are facing tariffs as high as 152%.
For a small, family run business like ours, this means the teas we source with great care now cost significantly more to bring in.
What This Means for The Tea Time Shop
We want to be transparent with you, our wonderful customers, about how this may affect us, and you.
Rising Costs: Our wholesale costs have increased due to the tariffs, particularly for some of our most popular teas.
Tough Choices: We’re doing our best to avoid raising prices, but in some cases, small increases may be necessary so we can continue offering you the same great quality.
More Sourcing Challenges: We’re working hard to find new, affordable options from other tea growing regions that aren’t affected by the tariffs, without compromising on flavor or freshness.
Customer Communication: If a tea is temporarily out of stock or its price has changed, we promise it’s only because we’re navigating this evolving situation as thoughtfully as possible.
Our Commitment to You
We’ve always taken pride in packing each order with TLC (Tea Loving Care), and that hasn’t changed. In fact, during this time, we’re more committed than ever to:
Including a free tea sample and complimentary tea filter in every order
Keeping our customer service personal, responsive, and helpful
Sharing new teas and blends that reflect what’s available and affordable for our customers
Offering seasonal promotions and rewards to help make your tea time a little more special
Thank You for Supporting a Small Tea Business
We know you have choices when it comes to where you shop for tea. Thank you for choosing us, and for being part of our tea loving community. Your support helps us continue doing what we love and keeps small businesses like ours thriving in uncertain times.
As always, if you have questions or suggestions, we’d love to hear from you. We’re in this together, and we promise to keep the kettle on.
Enjoy your time with tea,
Marty & The Tea Time Shop Team
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