Mainers should expect to pay more for local craft beer if aluminum tariffs take effect next month, brewers and industry officials warn.
President Donald Trump signed executive orders Monday that impose 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. He signed similar import taxes in 2018 but some countries, including Canada and Mexico, were exempt. The new tariffs, which are scheduled to take effect March 12, will be enforced “without exceptions or exemptions.”
Most of the aluminum used in Maine comes from Canada, including the metal used for beer cans. Mainers will most likely see price increases when they buy local craft beer, while brewers will also feel the financial pinch of the tariffs.
Aluminum producers may absorb 2 to 3 percent of the tariff increase and breweries may do about the same, but it wouldn’t be surprising if the remaining 20 percent or so falls to consumers buying the canned beer, said Alex Maffucci, owner of Atlantic Brewing Company and vice president of the Maine Brewers Guild.
“This is definitely going to have a pricing impact on most folks,” Maffucci said.
If the tariffs move forward, prices will increase almost immediately, Maine Brewers Guild Executive Director Sarah Bryan said. Those increased costs could be problematic for the state’s craft beer market, which is already suffering from inflation as it’s “seen as an expendable luxury.”
Most craft beer is sold in aluminum cans and switching to bottles is a non-starter for most breweries because of the cost and time investment, Bryan said. Companies like Coca-Cola are considering using more plastic bottles, something breweries cannot do.
Prices for buying aluminum and then cans of beer won’t increase until April at the earliest, with the timing of the tariffs, Maffucci said. At Atlantic Brewing, the company is stockpiling at least 30 percent of the aluminum it needs for the year.
The brewery may buy more but right now, it’s waiting and hoping the tariffs are a negotiation tactic, he said, in reference to previous tariffs Trump proposed earlier this month against Canada and Mexico that are now on pause.
Buying that much aluminum takes up a lot of space and a lot of cash, which is something not every place can do, especially places that don’t buy by the truck load.
Bissell Brothers is hoping to avoid passing the cost on to consumers but instead accept a lower return on sales, Production Manager Eric Dumais said. However, it’s too soon to know exactly what will happen.
“We’re going to have to deal with and weather the storm and hope eventually the tariffs are lifted,” Dumais said. “Regardless of who’s paying for it, either way it’s gonna be more expensive for us, if Americans are making it or if we’re buying it from a country that’s being tariffed.”
Consumers likely won’t see fewer cans of beer on the shelves of grocery and liquor stores.
“It’s too important to our overall business model to have off premise sales,” Maffucci said.
The Maine Brewers Guild has reached out to the state’s congressional representatives. Maffucci said he knows of businesses in similar positions that are also reaching out to law makers.
The cost of goods continuing to increase undermines how small businesses compete in store fronts and makes profit margins smaller, Bryan said.
“This is a difficult time for craft beer, especially as we’re not entirely sure whether these conversations happening in Washington are bona fide attempts at bolstering American manufacturing or if they’re negotiation tactics,” Bryan said.
“Regardless, the destabilization of the market is absolutely concerning and it’s something that the guild and our board will continue to watch very closely.”
