Beer industry will have trickle-down effect from US aluminium tariff

The U.S. beer industry has been hit hard by more expensive aluminium after President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imported aluminium and steel came into effect. Experts predict that import tariffs could even lead to job losses across the beer industry.

Image Source: The Beer Institute

John Decker, Briggs Distributing Company in Billings, MT said that new 10 per cent tariff on aluminium will impact the prices of its products. “Aluminium is a huge portion of what we sell. Sixty percent of our business is aluminium can and about nine percent of it is keg business which is steel. So, they both have an impact on how much our product will cost eventually and cost the consumer,” he said.

 “Well, not only does it impact us, but it impacts the farmers that grow Coors barley and other barley here in the state for other competitive brands," Decker said. "It’s a trickle-down effect that might impact them. It might impact some of our employees if the costs go up and we have to absorb them versus pass them on. There’s a trickle-down effect that could be huge.”

Jim McGreevy, President and CEO of the Beer Institute, said:  “Aluminium is a beer brewers largest input cost. We estimate that the tariffs will cost beer brewers $347 million per year. That’s nearly 40 billion aluminium cans and aluminium bottles bought by beer brewers in the United States in 2017.”

The Beer Institute, a national trade association for the American brewing industry, estimates that the industry could lose 20,291 jobs because of the aluminium tariffs and increased cost of aluminium.

The Beer Institute said that more than 60 per cent of all beer produced and sold in the U.S.is packaged in aluminium cans and aluminium bottles.