CA congressman slams Trump’s ‘misguided’ tariffs during SLO County coffee tour
San Luis Obispo County businesses are suffering serious economic strain due to the Trump administration’s tariff policies, according to Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal.
During a Friday facility tour of SLO Roasted Coffee, a Los Osos-based coffee roastery, he met with owners Chris and Julie Galloway to discuss how the company is faring in the wake of steep tariffs imposed on coffee producers nationwide.
The local coffee roasters said their costs had skyrocketed by up to $75,000 since tariffs were imposed in 2025.
“That kind of increase, you have to give that, some of that to the customer,” Chris Galloway told the Tribune. “It has to flow down. Unfortunately, that’s just a huge, huge price increase in our margins.”
Recently, Carbajal has met with restaurant owners, small businesses and agricultural leaders across the Central Coast. He said they all share a similar story of economic strain, rising costs and increased prices since tariff policies were instituted.
“The erratic nature of things have just put a tailspin on our economy and our businesses,” he said during the visit. “It’s certainly costing a lot more and hurting most businesses in a very significant way.”
Tariffs force Los Osos coffee producer to raise prices
Husband-and-wife duo Norman and Gail Galloway launched SLO Roasted Coffee in 1984 with a mission to churn out high grade coffee beans full of flavor.
Now, their children, Julie and Chris Galloway, helm the family-owned and operated roastery that sells everything from organic fair trade coffee to single serve K-cups and coffee-infused treats.
The owners said their company has struggled ever since President Donald Trump imposed 10% to 50% tariffs on a slew of countries that grow coffee beans, ranging from Vietnam to Colombia and Brazil.
“The prices went up for the coffee beans, utilities went up, insurance went up,” Chris Galloway said, listing their business challenges over the past year. “As far as business within California, they all kind of go together.”
The 42-year-old company only survived months of higher costs by passing on some of the tariff to customers, according to Chris Galloway. That looked like a 40% uptick in prices across the board, Julie Galloway said.
Carbajal said tariffs have exacerbated the affordability crisis afflicting millions of Americans across the country.
“We drink a lot of coffee as Americans, and certainly this contributes to prices being increased and the affordability of working, middle class, all families,” Carbajal said.
SLO County congressman advocates against ‘misguided’ tariffs
Carbajal told The Tribune he will continue to advocate against Trump’s “misguided” tariff policies when he returns to Washington.
“I’m hoping the Supreme Court renders a very strong decision on the illegality of this administration pursuing these tariffs without cooperation and collaboration with Congress,” Carbajal said.
In September, Carbajal co-sponsored Rep. Ro Khanna’s bill, the No Coffee Tax Act, to ban additional tariffs on coffee imports from counties that have normal trade relations with the U.S., according to the bill’s text.
Most recently, in an October letter to the President, Carbajal urged Trump to eliminate tariff policies that act as “hidden tax” on businesses and families alike. The Congressman said Americans were facing intense financial strain from rising prices on goods like coffee.
“The United States produces less than 1% of coffee beans globally,” Carbajal wrote in the letter. “In this case, the only possible outcome of these tariffs is increased prices for the American people, whether they are making coffee at home or buying it from a small business.”
In November, Trump erased import tariffs on coffee beans from most producers around the globe, but Brazil — the world’s largest coffee growers — still has a 40% duty on its beans, Reuters reported.
Chris Galloway said SLO Roasted Coffee has shifted away from getting beans from Brazil, resorting to Colombian coffee or other cheaper Latin American producers instead.
He said it’s been a constant challenge over the past year to switch between coffee farms and continue to find top grade beans at a sustainable price point. But they have still been able to prosper due to the community’s support, he added.
Central Coast congressman condemns ICE actions
Following the tour, Carbajal also denounced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for its “ridiculous tactics” that resulted in an agent shooting and killing U.S. citizen Renee Good in a residential Minneapolis neighborhood on Jan. 7.
Carbajal said Congress needed to complete more oversight into ICE’s hiring practices and discuss limiting appropriations to the Department of Homeland Security.
“They are implementing tactics, brutal tactics, without impunity,” he said. “Certainly, we need to do everything possible to make sure that they don’t continue with those tactics.”
So far, federal officials have defended the ICE agent. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said during a news conference on Jan. 7 that Good attempted to hit the agent with her vehicle, so he shot her in an act of self-defense.
Carbajal also slammed the Trump administration for continuing to deport Central Coast residents with no criminal records.
During the past 13 months, federal immigration agents have taken more than 100 people into custody from San Luis Obispo County, according to data from 805 UndocuFund, a nonprofit that supports immigrants and monitors ICE activity.
“This administration initially said they were going to go after criminals — which nobody can argue against, I certainly don’t — but they are going after hardworking people that are helping stand up our economy, our businesses, construction, hospitality, farmworkers,” Carbajal said. “It has been very tragic.”
