Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new directive for manufacturers to phase out eight synthetic food dyes used in the formulations of thousands of food and beverage products.

The first quarter of 2025 was rocky for the beer industry, as National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones reported last week. Brewbound’s coverage of Jones’ presentation of quarterly data from bev-alc invoice tech platform Fintech continues with a deeper dive into craft, hard tea and non-alcoholic (NA) beer…. Read more »

Overall beer category dollar sales declined in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024, but those losses were unbalanced between the channels, according to the most recent report from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and Fintech. Beer dollar sales reached an estimated $15.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, down about 4% year-over-year (YoY).

The U.S. market was somewhat prepared for President Donald Trump to enact tariffs during his presidency, as promised during his campaign. But it wasn’t prepared for how “aggressive” those tariffs would be, including the speed and extent of their implementation, Rabobank global strategist, beverages, Stephen Rannekleiv said Thursday during a webinar hosted by the Brewers Association (BA).

A Los Angeles craft spirits producer is taking on the Empire State in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday challenging direct-to-consumer shipping laws prohibiting distillers in California from sending spirits to customers in New York.

Craft brewers’ collective production declined 4% in 2024, to 23.1 million barrels of beer produced, the Brewers Association (BA) shared today in the release of its annual craft brewing production report. The trade group representing small and independent craft breweries described 2024’s numbers as “highlighting the new realities of a maturing market in a rapidly evolving environment.”

As some suppliers and wholesalers warm to intoxicating hemp beverages, bev-alc trade group leaders are looking for regulatory parity between their members’ products and the burgeoning segment.

Beer distributors’ top priority in lobbying visits with congressional members during the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) legislative conference was to push for permanence for lowered tax rates put in place by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

President Donald Trump’s reveal of sweeping tariffs on Wednesday included a 25% tariff on all imported beer and empty aluminum cans. Those tariffs are expected to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday, April 4.

Advocating for the federal government to untangle distilled spirits from tariff policy was the major theme at the annual Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) conference in Washington, D.C., last week.

Oregon bev-alc consumers may have to open their wallets and pay sales tax for the first time, should proposed amendments to House Bill 3197 pass. Amendments proposed by Rep. Tawna Sanchez were made public Tuesday, and would add an up to 8% retail sales tax on purchases of “malt beverages, cider and wine” in the state.

As tariff talks continue to expand, suppliers say they are losing purchase orders, facing the possibility of consumers trading down, and quickly assessing how to position their portfolios.

Longtime lead lobbyist Katie Marisic has exited the Brewers Association (BA), where she was senior director of federal affairs. Marisic represented craft brewers’ voices and the BA in Washington, D.C. for a decade.

American whiskey producers are once again swept up in a trade dispute that has unfurled pricey tariffs on their exports to Europe.