If New Yorkers begin paying more for craft beers and ciders, it may be President Donald Trump’s fault.
The Albany Times-Union reported that New York craft brewers are grappling with the effects of Trump tariffs on imported aluminum.
The Trump tariffs are meant to spur domestic production of products, but brewers say that they are paying the price until U.S. production ramps up.
Christian Weber of the Common Roots brewing company said that he’s seen an 8% increase in costs, which he equated to $10,000, that has happened because of the rising cost of aluminum.
Trump in March imposed a 25% tariff on imported aluminum, a tariff which doubled to 50% in June.
Weber said he is dealing with an increase in costs from supply and demand issues.
“If the end goal is to increase American manufacturing, then you can’t just slap a tariff on and expect the market just to catch up,” Weber said.
As businesses look to replace foreign sources of materials, demand for American-manufactured goods has increased, Weber said, but American manufacturers have not had adequate time to prepare for the spike in demand.”
The price of cardboard has also seen a 5% increase, Weber said, due to supply and demand issues.
He said that food costs have also been impacted in “astronomical” ways, a problem for Common Roots, which sells food at its two locations.
Coffee prices have spiked as high as 25%, Weber said, as beans are imported from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil.
Weber said that “it’s very short-sighted to think that Americans can produce everything they need in-house and ignore the global economy.” Some items, like coffee beans, cannot be grown in America, he said.
Sonya del Peral, co-owner of Nine Pin Cider, said that a shipment of cans is now coming with an additional tax of a little over $1,700.
With 10 shipments left through the end of the year, del Peral said the costs have been “pretty shocking for a small business to have an extra $20,000 in six months added to our costs.”
“This is all about building up manufacturing, supposedly,” Del Peral said, “but it’s really hurting our existing manufacturing business, which is hyperlocal.”
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