Coca-Cola blames tariffs for price hike

Aluminum tax hurting production, it says.

The Trump administration’s tariffs are making it a little pricier to get a sip of some of the nation’s favorite soft drinks.

The price of Coca-Cola and the company’s other carbonated soft drinks have been boosted in response to the administration’s imposition of tariffs on imports, CEO James Quincey announced.

He said the action was necessary to respond to higher production costs for cans due to the recently imposed 10 percent tariff on aluminum imports.

“Clearly, it’s disruptive for us. It’s disruptive for our customers,” Quincey said on the company’s earnings call last week.

“But I think the conversations have been about how is this going to work for each and every customer,” he added.

When Trump originally signed the aluminum tariffs in March of this year, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview with CNBC that the hysteria over tariffs is “a lot to do about nothing” and that consumers won’t notice the effects.

Coca-Cola has not commented on the specifics of these U.S. price increases, as they vary by retailer, a company spokesman said.

He said the price increases apply only to what retailers pay. It’s up to them to decide whether they want to pass through the increases to consumers.

Coca-Cola is not the only beverage company dealing with the tariffs. Sam Adams brewer Boston Beer said in an earnings call last week that it would raise prices by up to 2 percent in the second half of the year due to the tariffs.

Because about 60 percent of beer made and sold in the U.S. comes in aluminum cans or bottles, brewers could have to pay up to $348 million, and the tariff could lead to 20,000 people losing their jobs in the industry, according to the Beer Institute.