The Melle-based Huyghe Brewery is considering temporarily halting exports of canned beer to the United States. The brewery of beers including Delirium Tremens is responding to Donald J. Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum, which also affect canned packaging. If the tariff on beer too is increased, Huyghe will stop exporting canned beer to the US.
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Huyghe Brewery considers halt in Delirium Tremens exports to US due to Trump tariffs
Colin Clapson
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Higher US tariffs on aluminum and steel now apply. US president Donald J. Trump announced last week that the tariffs would be increased to 50 per cent. For canned beer, that now means a 50 per cent import tax, on top of previous levies that had already risen to 10 per cent.
‘We may have to put canned exports on hold again for a while,’ spokesman De Laet of Huyghe Brewery said. The brewery exported 33 containers full of cans to the US earlier this year and planned to export at full volume after tariffs were reduced earlier. ‘We can just about handle the increased levy on cans, but we can no longer do so if the levy on beer is also increased,’ he told VRT.
According to Mr De Laet, the cost price of an empty can is 9-to-10-euro cents on average, but the impact on the total selling price and the profit margin cannot be underestimated. Huyghe Brewery exports about 25,000 hectoliters of beer to the US every year, representing a turnover of $12 million.