Jobs in the troubled beer industry thanks to Trump's tariffs

The US beer industry said Trump's trade war cost them 40,000 jobs, according to Bloomberg. This is enough to make you want to drown your sorrows in a cold iced American water!

A report from the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association indicates that the beer industry has lost 40,000 jobs since 2016. The report attributes the losses associated with the tariffs on metals set up by the government. Trump, which has increased the price of aluminum cans, leading to 2.19 million jobs decline in 2018 from 2.23 million.

"Aluminum tariffs increase brewers' costs and are an anchor for a vibrant industry," Jim McGreevy, CEO of the Beer Institute in Washington, said in a statement. "Every brewer decides for himself how to absorb that expense, whether it's raising prices, firing workers, or delaying innovation and expansion."

The price of aluminum in the United States for can making has doubled, with Trump imposing a 10% tariff on metal imports, the industry said. Molson Coors Brewing Co. said the tariffs would reduce their profits by $ 40 million.

The fall in profits from beer may not be the fault of the administration alone. All sales of alcohol, including wine, beer and spirits, declined 0.08% in 2018 for the third year in a row. It seems that many drinkers are turning to drinking wine and alcohol rather than beer. As a result, the industry has been hit harder by the drop in alcohol consumption.

A spokeswoman for the beer industry told Bloomberg that even if tariffs are not "100%" to blame for the industry's losses, there is reason to believe that "Brewers are making less investment because of the extra cost of aluminum." tariffs were put in place, jobs in beer increased by 27%.

Still, it's not just bad news. Some sectors of the industry are still growing, with jobs in the brewery up 8%. The report attributes this to "the tremendous growth of employment in micro and breweries and the growth of higher margin products from all brewers".

And things may soon be in place: The Trump administration recently decided to raise aluminum tariffs on Canada and Mexico under the US-Mexico-Canada agreement. We will all be making casks again in no time.