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Saturday’s front-page above-the-fold story about the likely rise in beer prices due to a Trump tariff on Canadian aluminum is another example of what I consider anti-Trump rhetoric and fear mongering.
About 80 percent of aluminum consumed in the U.S. is from recycled aluminum, according to industry figures, and Canada produces much of the rest from ore. Cost for a can is roughly 10 cents so a 25 percent tariff is projected to increase the per can price by only about 2 cents.
Assuming small Maine brewers buy finished cans due to their low volume, I estimate 78,000 empties fit in a 10-foot by 20-foot storage unit renting for $150 per month. After five months of storage, the brewer would have spent more on storage than the 2 cents per can price increase.
Even double this is only a 1 to 2 percent increase on the cheapest beer prices.
Mark Daigle
Manchester
