(MENAFN- IANS) Addis Ababa, July 18 (IANS) The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) said Friday that it is changing its market strategy following the 10 per cent tariff imposed by the US government on the country's coffee export.

The ECTA said that efforts are being made to expand the Ethiopian coffee export market, especially to the Far East and Middle East regions.

The East African country is planning to expand the market to 20 countries in the fiscal year that started on July 8, according to Shafi Umer, Deputy Director General of the ECTA.

Ethiopia is taking new measures because the 10 per cent tariff imposed by the US government is affecting the Ethiopian coffee export market system, and new strategies are being developed to strengthen existing markets and create linkages by finding new markets, as per the authority.

Umer told Xinhua news agency that following the US tariff decision, Ethiopia is striving to strengthen trade relations with existing markets such as China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy.

Umer stressed that Ethiopia, which is the largest coffee producer in Africa and the fifth largest exporter of Arabica coffee in the world, has found it necessary to make a policy change as the Trump administration's policy is affecting about 35 per cent of the country's export revenue.

The Ethiopian government will not accept any decision that will harm the coffee sector, he added.

Ethiopia earned a record 2.65 billion US dollars in revenue from coffee exports during the just-concluded 2024/2025 Ethiopian fiscal year. The East African country exported 468,967 tonnes of coffee to generate revenue, up by more than 170,478 tonnes when compared to the previous fiscal year, according to the ECTA.

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