Trump tariffs could threaten an American staple: beer

WCCO-AM / 830 WCCO

America’s craft brewers already had enough problems. But President Donald Trump’s tariffs that include levies of 25% on imported steel and aluminum and on goods from Canada and Mexico pose a new threat.

Transcript

00:00And the reality is, is these tariffs have come in so quickly and so fast that the entire

00:07market's trying to understand the longer-term impacts.

00:11Well, cans make up about 60% of all of the beer that reaches our customers, whether that's

00:17at a bar, a restaurant, or in your backyard.

00:20The tariff issue that has recently come about is worrisome, you know.

00:25We're already under pressures of consumer demand and changing habits.

00:29A can going up half a cent, maybe a penny or two, that might seem small.

00:34But over a year, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars, and that doesn't mean money in

00:39someone's pocket.

00:40It means that we're not able to hire to grow.

00:44Besides aluminum and cans, one really important ingredient is malted barley.

00:50Just this week, we had a shipment coming in from a supplier in Canada of a product that

00:54we needed to put into a beer.

00:56And FedEx held the package, and it's still sitting in customs, because they just didn't

01:01know what to do with it.

01:03Beer shouldn't be a luxury item.

01:04It should be affordable and accessible to everybody.

01:06And the more the cost goes up, the more challenging that becomes.

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