U.S.Reps. Ken Buck (R-CO) and Al Lawson (D-FL) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland last week, asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review competition in aluminum pricing.
Buck and Lawson pointed to the market power of the energy company S&P Global Platts in setting aluminum benchmarking, which they said “[prevents] meaningful competition by other aluminum benchmarking entities.”
The DOJ is already reviewing a merger of S&P Global and the London-based global market insights firm IHS Markit Ltd.
“Since 2018, Section 232 tariffs have cost America’s beverage, boating, and aluminum industries millions of dollars,” the letter stated. “The tariffs have created significant costs on aluminum end-users, and these costs are magnified by problems in the current aluminum pricing structure through the Midwest Premium (MWP). The MWP has increased 450% over the past year even though logistical costs of sourcing, transporting, and storing metal from the around (sic) the world has seen minimal change.
“In sum, we remain very concerned about allegations concerning the absence of competition and anti-competitive pricing methods that cost end users of aluminum hundreds of millions of dollars annually. We hope the Antitrust Division will conduct a thorough review of these issues,” they continued.
In April, Buck and Lawson re-introduced the Aluminum Pricing Examination Act (APEX), a bipartisan proposal that would grant the Commodities Futures Trading Commision (CFTC) the authority to oversee the aluminum market, including price setting and benchmarking.
“I have spoken to brewers across North Florida, and the APEX Act will provide a lifeline to so many,” Lawson said in a press release. “By bringing it under the CFTC’s jurisdiction, it will guarantee that any potential deceptive practices and bad actors within the aluminum market can be investigated. The legislation will also help to sustain jobs in the manufacturing industry and grow our local economy.”
Tariffs on aluminum and steel imposed by former president Donald Trump in March 2018 have continued to impact beverage companies. The tariffs have added an extra $850 million in costs for the beverage industry over the last 18 months, Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute (BI), shared during the trade group’s annual membership meeting last month.
McGreevy expressed support for APEX, and said the act would help bring “aluminum premiums back in line with market fundamentals.”
APEX would address the “Midwest Premium,” which Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersly noted has tripled over the past 12 months.
Supreme Court Denies Review of Missouri Shipping Bill
The Supreme Court has declined to review an 8th circuit ruling and upheld Missouri’s retail delivery laws, which only allow licensed in-state Missouri retailers to deliver alcohol to local residents.
The review was requested by a Florida retailer, claiming Missouri’s law violates the Commerce Clause, which prohibits states from discriminating against out-of-state products.
In 2017, Missouri passed H.B. 115, prohibiting out-of-state retailers from shipping beverage alcohol directly to Missouri residents. Previously, the state operated as a reciprocal state, allowing direct-to-consumer shipping from California, Idaho, and New Mexico, according to Sovos.
The plaintiff’s lawyers have at least six other similar cases attempting to legalize or regulate interstate alcohol shipping in the federal court system, according to Alcohol Law Review. A similar case was rejected by the Supreme Court in January, which sought to review related laws in Michigan.
Wisconsin’s Minocqua Brewing Helps Parents Sue School Districts Over Rescinded Mask Requirements
Minocqua, Wisconsin-based Minocqua Brewing is using its super PAC to help parents seeking class action lawsuits against Wisconsin school districts, after several districts rescinded mask requirements in schools, according to NPR.
Two lawsuits have been filed — one in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, one in the federal court for the Western District of Wisconsin — that seek to require school districts to follow state and federal health guidelines, specifically related to COVID-19, and pay plaintiffs’ court costs and legal fees.
On October 6, Minocqua Brewing owner Kirk Bangstad, who ran for State Assembly District 34 last year, wrote in a Facebook post that the brewery had raised $50,000 to “pay lawyers, infectious disease experts, and epidemiologists to work around the clock to prepare this case.” In addition, Bangstad is using the brewery’s super PAC — to which the brewery donates 5% of its profits — to fund efforts.
“We hope that the mere threat of damages that school districts currently overrun by the Trump Cult may have to pay to their communities for willfully causing daily COVID super spreader events will trigger their insurance companies to force them to comply with CDC guidelines or lose their insurance,” Bangstad wrote. “We hope this action will give sane school board members and superintendents the courage they need to stand up to the anti-masking Trump Cult being fomented by conservative talk radio and alt right media, and continue doing what they did last year to protect students, families, teachers, and their communities from unnecessary COVID infection.”