As the effects of President Donald Trump’s waves of tariffs roll back to our shores, stocks have taken a deep dive, while American consumers and businesses prepare for increased prices on goods both imported and domestic. Retaliatory tariffs set by other governments, such as China and Canada, loom over those who sell overseas, as well.
Humboldt’s beer producers are among the many bracing for impact. While porters and IPAs on tap around our county are brewed here by smaller local operations, many rely on ingredients and canning materials from overseas.
In a March 12 post on its website, the Brewers Association, which advocates for small and independent craft brewers, warns, “With no countries exempted from the tariffs, prices for aluminum are likely to increase.” And while buying American canning materials seems like an obvious way to avoid the 25-percent tariffs, the Brewers Association also points to a statement from the Aluminum Association that aluminum from overseas is needed to keep up with demand, as “all U.S.-based smelters, even running at full capacity, cannot produce nearly enough metal to meet demand.”
At Six Rivers Brewery, co-owner Meredith Maier says she and her colleagues are in “wait and see” mode. With cans on hand and enough sturdy kegs to last for a while before they need replacing, the McKinleyville brewery is in a relatively good position regarding the expected price hikes, at least until the cans run out. “I’m interested to see if they’re gonna fire up those bottle plants again,” she says, noting a couple manufacturers have shut down of late.
Unlike many brewers who get their hops and malt from Canada, Maier says the brewery sources most of its hops from Oregon and Washington. However, Six Rivers Brewery uses malt from Europe and she expects to see the prices rise. With an attached restaurant, she says she’s already seeing the effects on food prices, too. Overall, she says she thinks “Humboldt is going to get hit hard by tariffs.”
Jessica Carenco, marketing director of Mad River Brewing Co., says, “Canada is a main provider for materials and ingredients; China is, as well, so we just expect the cost for products to go up significantly.” Trump’s tariffs mean re-evaluating cost estimates on a new project, too. “We’re in the process of installing a new canning line, and even that process is affected by tariffs and changes,” she says. And with giant beer producers already locked into contracts with the big canning operations, she notes it’s notoriously difficult, if not impossible, for small craft brewers to squeeze in.
General Manager Linda Cooley says Mad River Brewing uses domestic aluminum, “But what we don’t know is how much the aluminum company gets from China.” Tariffs on scrap from overseas could affect the cost of even those cans manufactured in the U.S., an increase she worries will be passed on to beer producers. She recalls pandemic-era aluminum shortages and can see it happening again. This time, she says, the concern is price increases from aluminum manufacturers or being pushed out by big breweries that make bigger orders. “For breweries smaller than us,” she says, getting any cans at all “could be an issue.”
“We’re hearing now that we’re not getting tariffs on our hops and malt,” some of which come from Canada, Cooley says, “but that could change.” She expects it’ll be at least two to four weeks before the company knows how the tariffs on ingredients and aluminum will shake out.
Lost Coast Brewery faces the tariff problem on two fronts, according to Business Operations Manager Briar Bush: imported materials and overseas sales.
In the wake of a glass supplier’s closure, Bush has been scrambling to find a manufacturer that can accommodate the brewery’s labeling requirements and machinery. He will likely have to go with one from Mexico that will be subject to tariffs. So far, the supplier is willing to do business, he says, but he’s fairly certain tariffs will hit glass bottles and is uncertain what the final cost will be. “Nobody knows what these numbers are because some of this could be absorbed … or blown up and exploited,” he says. “It’s an unknown variable.”
And though most of Lost Coast Brewery’s cans are produced in the U.S., the ones it uses for its Blackberry Lager and an upcoming release come from Mexico, too. Even the bottle caps the brewery stamps on its bottles here in Humboldt are imported from Italy or Greece, he notes.
Lost Coast Brewery uses malts from Western Canada and mostly hops from Oregon and Washington, with a small amount from Australia and New Zealand. Between the cost of bottles, cans and ingredients, Bush says he thinks wholesale prices of beer will have to go up.
Meanwhile, Bush is concerned about China imposing its own reciprocal tariffs. China is Lost Coast Brewery’s biggest overseas market and its biggest shipping destination overall. He recalls meeting with a broker and buyers in Shanghai when Trump announced his first round of tariffs in 2018. Bush says the brewery’s share of the Chinese market dropped 25 percent and never bounced back. Now, as the Journal went to press April 8, the administration announced it was raising tariffs on China to 104-percent, with experts expecting China to reciprocate.
Cooley sees fewer people going out to eat and drink, and she wonders how much more small businesses in the hospitality industry and elsewhere can take. “Craft beer for a while has been in decline,” she says, noting oversaturation of the market, inflation and shrinking margins. “At restaurants, bars and grocery stores, you’re having the choice between, ‘Do I buy meat this week or a six pack of beer?'” She sees the same consumer caution affecting festivals, tourism and spending in general, all of it hurting local businesses.
“Nobody’s talking about our customers and how they’re holding back” due to tariffs, says Cooley. “Everyone’s saving their money because they don’t know what’s happening next.” Echoing the sentiments of the other brewery folks the Journal spoke with, she says, “We’re trying not to hit our customers directly” with a price increase.
“Everyone talks about, ‘You gotta support local,’ but sometimes you can’t afford it. So we’re trying to stay competitive with mass-market beer as much as we can,” says Cooley. “Not everybody can afford it.”
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Bluesky @jfumikocahill.bsky.social.
This article appears in How the Klamath Dams came down.
