In this week’s Last Call: The House Ways and Means Committee passed a one-year extension of the federal excise tax relief for alcohol producers and importers. Also, U.S. beer shipments declined in May, Deschutes begins selling canned drinking water, Bell’s Two Hearted tops the AHA’s best list, and more news briefs.
An effort to maintain reduced federal excise taxes (FET) on all brewers an importers could take a major step forward tonight. The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to extend tax cuts for alcohol producers and importers as part of the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019 (H.R. 3301) extender bill.
Alcohol producers’ efforts to make excise tax relief permanent reached another milestone today, as a majority of Congress now supports the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA). In a joint announcement, seven alcohol industry trade groups said a bill to permanently enact tax cuts for alcohol producers and importers now has 218 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Nearly a year after imposing aluminum and steel tariffs against Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration today officially lifted levies imposed upon the two longtime trade allies. Ending tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from Canada and Mexico marks a significant moment for the beer industry, as about 43 percent of aluminum used by U.S. beverage companies comes from Canada, according to Washington, D.C.-based trade group the Beer Institute (BI).
A majority of U.S. Senators support making permanent excise tax relief for alcohol producers and importers. The 2019 version of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) added its 52nd supporter in the U.S. Senate today, with Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) becoming a co-sponsor. The legislation seeks to make permanent the two years of tax breaks that alcohol producers and importers received as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are slated to expire at the end of this year.
In this week’s Last Call: Boston Beer CEO’s 2018 compensation hits $20 Million; New Belgium opens remodeled pub at Denver airport; 7-Eleven tests upscale store; Amazon seeks alcohol policy manager; New York State Liquor Authority fines Shmaltz; and more industry news.
In this week’s Last Call: Founders Brewing is sued for alleged racial discrimination; the New Jersey ABC suspends its taproom ruling; the Beer Institute expresses disappointment in continued aluminum tariffs; and more news.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Boston Beer founder Jim Koch dines with President Trump; Buffalo Wild Wings considers sports betting; Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s ties to a Montana brewery project come under scrutiny; a federal appeals court rejects a challenge to the MegaBrew merger; and more news.
A bipartisan group of Congressional members have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate potential irregularities in the aluminum market, which they say are causing the price of the metal used in beverage cans to surge. In the letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) and 31 additional congressional members pointed to “sharp increases” in the Midwest Premium — which represents the full logistics costs of shipping and storing metal in the U.S. — as the potential cause of aluminum pricing irregularities.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: MillerCoors says the Trump tariffs will cost it $40 million; Magnolia founder Dave McLean leaves the company; Jester King takes on employee owners; brewery closures in Chicago, Washington and Virginia; and more news.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: President Trump says he may support bill to end the federal marijuana ban; new brewery trademark lawsuits emerge; breweries close in Colorado and New Hampshire; and more.
As the clock turned to midnight, the exemption on aluminum and steel tariffs expired on Canada, the European Union and Mexico. The levies imposed by President Donald Trump — 25 percent on foreign steel and 10 percent on aluminum — will now be collected from the nation’s trade allies, who have subsequently threatened to impose their own tariffs on U.S. exports. Brewbound stopped by the Beer Institute’s Washington, D.C., offices to discuss the news with CEO Jim McGreevy. Watch the video above.
In the continued fallout of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel, the Beer Institute (BI) is now calling on the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate anticompetitive activity in the aluminum market.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. chairman Pete Coors is grabbing headlines for the second consecutive week. Last Monday, Coors issued an “open letter” to the Brewers Association, chastising the trade group’s leaders over negative comments made about “big beer” during the annual Craft Brewers Conference. Now, Coors has scored himself an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, and he’s turned his focus toward President Donald Trump and a recently imposed 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
