Craft Beer Reacts to Trump’s Aluminum and Steel Tariffs

As Washington braced for Bluejacket’s first-ever cans of beer to hit the shelves last week, just across town, President Trump was announcing that he would place a 10-percent tariff on aluminum imports to go into effect as early as this week.

The beer industry is very concerned.

The Brewers Association, which has long advocated against tariffs on can sheet aluminum, put out a short statement affirming their opposition to the measure, while the DC-based Beer Institute projected that it could cause as many as 20,000 job losses and cost the industry as much as $347 million.

Over the weekend, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross defended these tariffs, stating—with a Budweiser tallboy in hand—that they will have a “trivial” impact on the price of a can of beer.

Justin Cox, Founder and CEO of Atlas Brew Works in Ivy City, disagrees. He claims the tariff “will absolutely increase the cost of our aluminum cans, which accounts for 20 percent or so of the cost of a case of Atlas beer.”

Even Anheuser-B