Aluminum tariffs are bad for America
Your can of beer is about to cost more — all in the name of national security. The U.S. Commerce Department on Jan. 19 concluded that aluminum imports threaten to impair U.S. national security and recommended putting in place significant tariffs or quotas to strengthen the remaining five domestic aluminum smelters and the multiple fabricators for items ranging from cans, cars and many of our household goods. Those recommendations and President Donald Trump’s tariff decision now threaten to significantly increase the cost of the aluminum to manufacture beer cans.
We struggle to see how this import impacts national security (the aluminum used to make a beer can is not the same that is used to make a fighter aircraft), particularly when we as a nation do not even have on domestic soil sufficient quantities of raw materials used to make primary aluminum. In fact, we concur with Trump’s own Department of Defense (DOD), which recently indicated “the DOD has the ability to acquire aluminum to meet national defense requirements” and recommends not imposing duties/quotas on aluminum imports.
In 1959, Bill Coors, now 101 years old, invented the modern day aluminum beer can, which revolutionized the cold beverage industry. The can was lighter weight, better for quality and better for the environment. Nearly 60 years later, Molson Coors, Ball Corp. and many others in the beverage supply chain manufacture and package an increasing amount of beer in aluminum cans. The announced tariffs will cause aluminum prices to rise and likely lead to U.S. job losses across breweries and can manufacturers.
Our companies directly employ more than 16,000 hardworking Americans, who brew and package some of the most beloved beer in the world. Our extended family of suppliers and distributors employs tens of thousands of hardworking American workers as well.
We strongly urge the president and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to exempt primary aluminum and fabricated can sheet from any tariffs. Doing so will help grow the beer business for all, including the 6,000 small brewers who are converting every day to aluminum cans because of consumer preference and sustainability benefits. We buy as much domestic can sheet aluminum as is available; however, there simply isn’t enough primary aluminum supply to satisfy the demands of American beverage makers like us. A 10 percent tariff on primary aluminum used in the manufacture of can sheet will likely mean loss of jobs, hurting American workers, their families, and communities in which they live. The beer business already faces strong headwinds with total industry volume in decline and such a tariff hit could not come at a worse time.
In his first year in office, Trump has made it clear that one of his top priorities is to make our country more competitive with the rest of the world and create a better environment for job growth here in the United States. A part of his campaign also included creating a free, stable and predictable business environment where all U.S. manufacturers could invest with confidence, grow and flourish for the betterment of America.
A tariff on imported primary aluminum to make can sheet will impede that goal and restrict our ability to invest in breweries and can manufacturing facilities in states across America. Put simply, this tariff is not making America great again. It’s likely going to cause job losses and increased prices and that’s a losing proposition for everyone.