Chicago-area breweries brace for impact of Trump's 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum imports

PLAINFIELD, Ill. (WLS) -- President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports are impacting Chicago-area businesses, local business owners told ABC7.

Most of everything breweries use in the process of brewing beer uses steel and aluminum, which means the cost of producing beer is going up.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

A conveyor belt brings each aluminum can of beer down the line to get a label, which then join 23 others in a case bound for a retail location.

Starting Wednesday, the cans are costing about 25% more because of the tariffs on steel and aluminum. The owners of Werk Force Brewing Co. anticipated the tariffs however, and they ordered 160,000 cans, about an 8-month supply, last month.

"Every day we wake up reading the news... It's like COVID all over again," said Brandon Wright with Werk Force Brewing.

From the large stainless steel barrels to the kegs, there is steel and aluminum everywhere in the brewery. Brewers say they would like to use American-made material.

"The big question everyone says is, 'Why don't you just buy American made aluminum?'" Ray Stout with the Illinois Craft Brewer's Guild. "Like, that would be great. There's not enough."

RELATED | Canada, Europe hit back after Trump's 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports go into effect

At Hop District Brew Pub in La Grange Park, they use malted barley, which they get from Canada and is also going to be subject to tariffs. That will add even more to the cost of production. Also, that's on top of the cost of the 64-ounce aluminum growlers, which cost about 60 cents on Tuesday, but cost 25% more now.

Brewers say they are reluctant to pass the costs along to customers, but they have little choice.

"Everything in here could be affected potentially," said Jim Koblish with Hop District Brewing.

Koblish is in the process of building a new production facility in Brookfield for Hop District Brewing, and he said because of the tariffs increasing the cost of aluminum, he's considering going to glass bottles.

"It could be such a large increase on our input costs, we're considering changing our entire production model," Koblish said.

It's a tough time for many smaller breweries. They employ about 16,000 workers in the state and provide an economic impact of about $3 billion, but the tariffs will be a burden.

"You throw a 25% tariff on that, we're talking about millions of dollars that are going to be passed on to the consumer," Stout said.

Aside from the increase in costs right now, brewers said one of the most difficult issues they're facing is the uncertainty, not knowing just how long the tariffs will last.