“You Think Tariffs Doubled the Price?” — Walmart Shopper Stunned by Jump in Coffee Costs

A Walmart shopper, disgruntled with the cost of coffee, showed how much a container of Maxwell House increased in about a year. TikTok user Chuck Smith (@chucksmith) shared a clip highlighting the price differential, which he attributes to White House tariffs.

But are tariffs the root cause of the spike in coffee prices?

"I am at the Walmart in Rochester, Indiana. And I went to grab coffee, cause I'm out of coffee. And was kinda shocked. The 38-ounce, 38.2-ounce coffee, Maxwell House, is $21.44," he says, right before a picture of the coffee's price tag pops up on the screen.

Stunned by the spike in Maxwell House coffee prices, the TikToker decided to do some sleuthing to see how much coffee cost just a year prior. "So I was curious, and I looked back.

And in October of last year, almost a year ago, I paid $12 and some odd sense, I'll put the receipt on this later, for the same exact amount."

Continuing with his photographic TikTok theme, he indeed puts up the receipt to indicate how much coffee has spiked at Walmart. According to the bill of sale, the retailer was selling the same 38.2-ounce canister of Maxwell House coffee for $8.50 less.

Smith believes that the reasoning behind soaring coffee prices is due to trade tariffs implemented by the Trump Administration.

"I mean, if you think tariffs or inflation or something's not increasing the costs. You're messed up in the head, it's not coming down," he claims in his video. "It's, this is ridiculous," he says once again.

At the end of the video, he presents his receipt, stating that he ended up buying a smaller container of Maxwell House coffee from Walmart.

Furthermore, the receipt indicates other items he bought: "kitty litter, bleach, dog food ... almost a hundred bucks," he says. The total amount presented on the Walmart bill of sale indicates that these items, along with his 25.9-ounce tub of decaf coffee, came out to $94.42.

The Wall Street Journal documented that coffee prices have gone up across the United States, but are tariffs to blame? CNBC reports that's not the case.

Coffee is a crop and is subject to the mercy of Mother Nature.

"Volatile weather ... [has] reduced crop harvests among major growers like Brazil and Vietnam," the outlet wrote.

Due to the principles of supply and demand, there's a shortage of coffee. Since Americans drank approximately 169.1 billion cups of the warm bean juice in 2024 alone, that means there are many folks pining for the beloved beverage.

With less to go around and demand not decreasing, growers are then able to fetch higher market prices for it, thus raising the price.

CNBC went on to write that "global coffee prices are hovering near a 50-year high reached in February."

In 2021, coffee cost around $4.57 per pound. In July of 2025, it went up to $8.41, subsequently raising the cost of the product in 2025.

When it comes to grocery costs, the USDA writes that from July 2025 to August 2025, "prices declined for five food-at-home categories and increased for 10 categories."

Moreover, the agency states that "food prices are predicted to rise 3 percent, faster than their historical average rate of price increase."

Although, "food-at-home prices are predicted to increase at a slower rate than overall food prices," according to the USDA's CPI forecast.

In July of 2025, ABC News reported that overall, "inflation has eased since Trump took office."

Between 2021-2024, inflation hit a record 40-year-high, with food-at-home and food-away-from expenditures, hitting Americans with sticker shock at the register.

The rate of inflation during Trump's first presidential term was 2.46%, less than half of Biden's, which stood at 4.95%. During Barack Obama's two terms between 2009 and 2017, the inflation rate was at 1.46%.

American inflation hit a massive high during President Jimmy Carter's single, four-year term, at 9.85%.