Massachusetts breweries bracing for potential impact of aluminum and steel tariffs
The metals are key in the brewing and bottling process.
"That effects breweries a lot, especially ones that expand, or are trying to build," Remnant Brewing head brewer Charlie Cummings said. "Aluminum prices for cans will definitely affect us."
Massachusetts breweries
Cummings says the large drums used during brewing are made of steel. If one were to break the cost would be extremely detrimental.
At Remnant Brewing, they can sell 150 cases of their top IPA alone. Those are bottled in aluminum cans.
"There is not a lot of room for us to raise prices, actually there is no room for us to raise prices on canned beer," tells Cummings, "We are going to have to eat that margin probably."
Beyond the metals, Cummings and other brewers also have their eyes on Canada in case they retaliate with tariffs of their own.
"The majority of the malt they use is grown in Canada, so right now we don't know yet with Canadian tariffs, but if that goes up that's almost a bigger problem," adds Cummings.
Steel and aluminum tariffs
President Trump announced the steel and aluminum tariffs on February 10.
"Our nation requires steel and aluminum to be made in America, not in foreign lands we need to create in order to protect our country's future resurgence of U.S. manufacturing and production, the likes of which has not been seen for many decades," Mr. Trump said.
The new metal tariffs affect a total of about $50 billion in imports. According to CBS News, the U.S. imports roughly a quarter of domestically used steel, with most of it sourced from Canada and Mexico. The metals are also imported from countries including Brazil, South Korea and Japan, according to the International Trade Administration.
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