(Courtesy Ball Corp)

When President Trump imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel in June it was widely expected that they would lead to immediate price hikes in the states. What surprised was that those tariffs would lead to problems for Canadian craft brewers as well.

Here’s the deal

One June 1^st the US government imposed a 10% tariff on steel and aluminum imports. And in reaction  on July 1st Canada, who import the majority of raw aluminum used to produce beer cans in the US, instituted retaliatory import duties on the United States.

But although “Canada is the world’s third biggest aluminum producer and cans are made in the country, beer makers also rely on the import of more than 2 billion cans annually, largely from the United States,” according to Business Insider.

So when Canada took its own retaliatory measures against the US, that tariff tightened the amount of cans available to Canadian craft breweries leading to increased prices no matter what side of the border those cans came from.

President Trump supports tariffs…we don’t

According to the Calgary Herald, “Alberta craft brewers are worried about a potential industry-wide beer can shortages with some brewers are already paying higher prices for their cans, while others are reporting difficulty sourcing the supply they need.”

Supply chain disruptions are also adding to many Canadian craft brewer’s worries….

U.S.-based Ball Corp and Crown Holdings are two of the biggest providers of aluminum cans to Canada And due to unexplained plant shutdowns brewers who source their products from Crown Holdings appear to be having more difficulty getting orders filled.

Steve Beauchesne, Co-founder and CEO of Beau’s Brewing in Ottawa explained his growing difficulties to Reuters …

“It seems like no one has cans to sell….Whether it’s tariff-related or not, clearly some large producers have greatly underestimated their demand so that the suppliers were caught off guard and unable to provide it”

According to the industry group Beer Canada, more than 60 percent of all packaged beer sold in Canada now comes in cans so Canadian brewers have good reason to be concerned.