Aluminum

The U.S. and European Union (EU) have struck a deal that will lift some tariffs on aluminum and steel that were enacted by former President Donald Trump.

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.

Increased aluminum and steel prices continue to hurt beer manufacturers, and equalization efforts by spirits companies threaten the beer industry’s stranglehold of retail cold boxes.

As the beverage industry faces a painful crunch on aluminum can supply, another manufacturer announced last week that it is working to expand production. Crown Holdings said Friday that it has selected Mesquite, Nevada as the location of a new aluminum can manufacturing facility.

Aluminum cans are in short supply, and the shortage comes at a time when the can package is becoming more important to the beer category as brewers shift their focus to off-premise sales during the pandemic. Market research firm Nielsen’s latest report highlights the growth and importance of cans to the beer category. The firm… Read more »

Barring a resolution before next week, President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China — and increased tariffs on aluminum can sheet — threatens to further impact U.S. beer companies’ bottom lines. On Friday, Trump announced via Twitter plans to increase tariffs on $550 billion of imported Chinese goods over the next two months in retaliation for China saying it would impose $75 billion in tariffs on goods imported from America beginning October 1. And aluminum can producers are bracing for the higher aluminum costs and passing them onto their customers.

The beer industry’s pushback against tariffs received a boost on Tuesday, as the U.S. Senate filed a companion bill that would increase the federal government’s regulatory authority of groups overseeing aluminum premium benchmarking, including the controversial “Midwest Premium.”