“The way it is phrased, it is all beer that is in, regardless of the container, but we are seeking clarifications,” said one industry insider. “It’s not as if beer is the only product that comes in cans.”
European beer exports to the U.S. topped €1.1 billion last year, with Guinness, Heineken and Stella Artois among the bestsellers. About a fifth of that trade, by value, is shipped in cans. The customs code applies globally — so even top exporters like Mexico, which supplies over 60 percent of U.S. beer imports, are hit.
The tariff’s scope has left companies uncertain whether to ship — or sit tight and hope for clarification. Belgian brewers, already operating on tight margins, fear a prolonged standoff.
“We don’t know how long the measure will be in effect, and that uncertainty is already damaging,” Raf De Jonghe, head of Belgian brewers’ group BEER, told Belgian daily Nieuwsblad.
Trump, who has long abstained from alcohol due to his late brother Fred’s battle with addiction, once launched his own vodka brand — “Success Distilled,” as the tagline put it.
The European Commission estimates his sweeping new tariffs — including a 20 percent blanket levy and separate 25 percent duties on cars, steel and aluminum — will affect up to 70 percent of all EU exports to the U.S., worth some €380 billion.