By Roberto Samora
SAO PAULO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The global arabica coffee market has surged in August with prices gaining more than 30% on the ICE exchange, driven mainly by steep tariff hikes from the United States, the head of Brazil's coffee exporters council, Cecafe, said on Friday.
The 50% tariff imposed on Brazilian coffee by the U.S. government since Aug. 6 has made exports to the North American country inviable, disrupting markets and making it difficult to gauge how far prices could climb, Cecafe president Marcio Ferreira said in an interview.