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The world’s fondness for matcha is about to be tested by steep price increases.Global demand for the powdered tea has skyrocketed around the world, fueled by consumer interest in its health benefits and by the bright green matcha lattes bubbling up on social media. In the U.S., retail sales of matcha are up 86% from three years ago, according to NIQ, a market research firm.But the matcha market is troubled. In Japan, one of the biggest matcha producers, poor weather reduced this year’s harvest. Matcha is still plentiful in China, another major producer, but labor shortages and high demand have also raised prices there.For Americans, there’s the added impact of tariffs. Imports from China are currently subject to a 37.5% tariff, while the U.S. has a 15% tariff on imports from Japan. It’s not clear if tea will be exempted from tariffs because it’s a natural product that’s not grown in significant quantities in the U.S. an accommodation that the Trump administration has made for cork from the European Union. The Commerce Department and the U.S. Trade Representative didn’t respond to messages left by The Associated Press.Aaron Vick, a senior tea buyer with California-based tea importer G.S. Haly, says he paid 75% more for the highest-grade 2025 crop of Japanese matcha, which will arrive in the U.S. later this fall. He expects lower grades of matcha to cost 30% to 50% more. Chinese matcha while generally cheaper than Japanese matcha is also getting more expensive because of high demand, he said.“People should expect an enormous increase in the price of matcha this year,” Vick said. “It’s going to be a bit of a tough ride for matcha devotees. They will have to show the depth of their commitment at the cash register.”Even before this year’s harvest, growing demand was straining matcha supplies. Making matcha is precise and labor intensive. Farmers grow tencha a green tea leaf in the shade. In the spring, the leaves are harvested, steamed, de-stemmed and de-veined and then stone ground into a fine powder. Tencha can be harvested again in the summer and fall, but the later harvests are generally of lower quality.There are ways to cut corners, like using a jet mill, which grinds the leaves with high pressure air. But Japan has other issues, including a rapidly aging workforce and limited tencha production. And despite Japanese agricultural ministry trying to coax tea growers to switch to tencha from regular green tea, many are reluctant to do so, concerned that the matcha boom will fade.That’s giving an opening to China, where matcha originated but fell out of favor in the 14th century. Chinese matcha production has been growing in recent years to meet both domestic and international demand.Chinese matcha has historically been considered inferior to Japanese matcha and used as a flavoring for things like matcha-flavored KitKat bars instead of as a drinking tea. But the quality is improving, according to Jason Walker, the marketing director at Firsd Tea, the New Jersey-based U.S. subsidiary of Zhejiang Tea Group, China’s largest tea exporter.“We are seeing more and more interest in Chinese matcha because of capacity issues and changing perception,” Walker said. “It used to be the idea that it has to be Japanese matcha or nothing. But we have a good product too.”Starbucks is among the companies using matcha from China for its lattes. The company said it also sources matcha from Japan and South Korea. Dunkin’ and Dutch Bros. didn’t respond when asked where they source the matcha.Josh Mordecai, the supply chain director for London-based tea supplier Good & Proper Tea, said he is approached almost daily by Chinese matcha suppliers. For now, he only buys matcha from Japan, but the cost to acquire it has risen 40% so he’ll have to raise prices, he said.Mordecai said he saw more demand for matcha in the last year than in the previous nine years combined. If matcha prices continue to rise, he wonders if consumers will switch to other tea varieties like hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea.“We’ll see if this is a bubble or not. Nothing stays on social media that long,” Mordecai said.Julia Mills, a food and drink analyst for the market research company Mintel, expects the social media interest in matcha to die down. But she thinks matcha will remain on menus for a while.Mills said matcha appeals to customers interested in wellness, since it contains antioxidants and l-theanine, an amino acid known for its calming effects, and it’s less caffeinated than coffee. Millennials and Generation Z customers are more likely to have tried matcha than others, Mills said.The traditional way of preparing it, whisking the powder together with hot water in a small bowl, also appeals to drinkers who want to slow down and be more intentional, Mills said.That’s true for Melissa Lindsay of San Francisco, who whisks up some matcha for herself every morning. Lindsay has noticed prices rising for her high-end matcha, but it’s a habit she’d find hard to quit.“It’s not just a tea bag in water,” Lindsay said. “It’s a whole experience of making it to your liking.”David Lau, the owner of Asha Tea House in San Francisco, hopes to keep customers drinking matcha by limiting price increases. Lau raised the price of his matcha latte by 50 cents after the cost the matcha he buys from Japan more than doubled. He’s also looking into alternate suppliers from China and elsewhere.“We’re in the affordable luxury business, you know, just like any other specialty cafe. We want people to be able to come every day, and once you reach a certain price level, you start to price people out,” he said. “We want to be really cognizant and aware of not doing that. AP Video Journalist Haven Daley contributed from San Francisco. Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer
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President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and four of its journalists on Monday, according to court documents.The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Florida names several articles and one book written by two of the publication’s journalists and published in the lead up to the 2024 election, saying they are “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”“Defendants published such statements negligently, with knowledge of the falsity of the statements, and/or with reckless disregard of their truth or falsity,” the lawsuit says.The New York Times did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment early Tuesday.In a Truth Social post announcing the lawsuit, Trump accused The New York Times of lying about him and defaming him, saying it has become “a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party.”Trump has gone after other media outlets, including filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch in July after the newspaper published a story reporting on his ties to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein. Associated Press
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Luigi Mangione is due to appear on Tuesday in New York state court, where a judge may rule on the 27-year-old’s bid to dismiss one of the two indictments he faces over the December 2024 killing of health insurance executive Brian Thompson. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges of killing Thompson, the former chief executive of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit UnitedHealthcare. Thompson was shot and killed on December 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, where the company was gathering for an investor conference. Mangione’s 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) appearance before Justice Gregory Carro in Manhattan comes as last week’s killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has fueled fears of a spike in political violence in the U.S. Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s killing is expected to be formally charged with state crimes in Utah later on Tuesday. Elected officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties have condemned the killing. While the killing of Thompson was also widely condemned by public officials across the political spectrum, Mangione has become a folk hero to some Americans who decry steep healthcare costs. In May, Mangione’s defense lawyers asked Carro to dismiss the state case, arguing that facing parallel prosecutions violated his constitutional right against being prosecuted twice for the same conduct. “Prosecutors are trying to get two bites at the apple to convict Mr. Mangione,” wrote the defense team, led by former Manhattan state prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo. In state court, Mangione is charged with murder as a crime of terrorism, which carries a potential life sentence. Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office say Mangione was intending to intimidate workers in the health insurance industry and spark a revolution in U.S. health care. The Justice Department is seeking the death penalty in the federal case, which charges Mangione with stalking Thompson across state lines and killing him. Mangione’s lawyers have said the two cases are based on conflicting theories. They wrote in their motion that if their client were theoretically to defend himself against the state charges by arguing his conduct was intended to target a single individual, rather than to sow terror, he may end up incriminating himself in the federal case. In a June response to Mangione’s motion to dismiss, prosecutors with Bragg’s office said there was no basis for Mangione to argue it was unfair that a potential defense in one case could compromise his defense in the other. “The unpleasant options facing this defendant arise out of his own depraved actions,” prosecutors wrote. Trial dates have not yet been set in either the state or federal case. Mangione has been held in federal custody in Brooklyn since his arrest in December. Luc Cohen, Reuters
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