Trump’s beer tariffs might impact 100,000 EU jobs – FT
Brewers are urging Brussels to protect them from significant new import taxes imposed by the US, according to reports from a newspaper. A trade organization representing European brewers has raised concerns that a 25% tariff on beer imports...
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Brewers are urging Brussels to protect them from significant new import taxes imposed by the US, according to reports from a newspaper.
A trade organization representing European brewers has raised concerns that a 25% tariff on beer imports to the US could force companies to shut down and leave tens of thousands of workers unemployed, as reported by the Financial Times on Saturday.
Recently, the US Commerce Department included beer and empty aluminum cans on a list of products subject to its tariffs on aluminum.
There is reported confusion among EU brewers regarding whether the new tariff affects all beer or is limited to products imported in aluminum cans.
“We are calling on the [European] commission to use all diplomatic channels and whether through negotiation or retaliation, find a way to de-escalate this tariff in which we have become a collateral victim,” stated Julia Leferman, secretary-general of Brewers of Europe, in an interview with the FT.
This group, which represents major companies like InBev, Heineken, and Carlsberg, highlighted that the EU’s directorate general for trade has reached out to US officials but has not yet received clear information about the tariffs’ extent.
Brewers of Europe mentioned to the newspaper that local companies exported €870 million worth of beer to the US last year, emphasizing that a loss of this business could result in the elimination of 100,000 jobs in a two-million-strong workforce within the industry.
As part of a significant new set of tariffs, Trump introduced a 10% minimum duty on all imports along with additional “reciprocal” tariffs targeting several countries he claims have an unfair trade advantage over the US. EU exports faced a heightened rate of 20%. The president argued that various nations were "ripping off" America through “harmful policies like currency manipulation and exorbitant value-added taxes.”
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
A trade organization representing European brewers has raised concerns that a 25% tariff on beer imports to the US could force companies to shut down and leave tens of thousands of workers unemployed, as reported by the Financial Times on Saturday.
Recently, the US Commerce Department included beer and empty aluminum cans on a list of products subject to its tariffs on aluminum.
There is reported confusion among EU brewers regarding whether the new tariff affects all beer or is limited to products imported in aluminum cans.
“We are calling on the [European] commission to use all diplomatic channels and whether through negotiation or retaliation, find a way to de-escalate this tariff in which we have become a collateral victim,” stated Julia Leferman, secretary-general of Brewers of Europe, in an interview with the FT.
This group, which represents major companies like InBev, Heineken, and Carlsberg, highlighted that the EU’s directorate general for trade has reached out to US officials but has not yet received clear information about the tariffs’ extent.
Brewers of Europe mentioned to the newspaper that local companies exported €870 million worth of beer to the US last year, emphasizing that a loss of this business could result in the elimination of 100,000 jobs in a two-million-strong workforce within the industry.
As part of a significant new set of tariffs, Trump introduced a 10% minimum duty on all imports along with additional “reciprocal” tariffs targeting several countries he claims have an unfair trade advantage over the US. EU exports faced a heightened rate of 20%. The president argued that various nations were "ripping off" America through “harmful policies like currency manipulation and exorbitant value-added taxes.”
Allen M Lee for TROIB News
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