ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Nearly two months have passed since President Donald Trump began imposing tariffs on trading partners like Mexico and Canada.

One of the latest escalations in the trade war is a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, with the president aiming to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

News10NBC spoke with local Rochester breweries to assess the potential impact on their canning process.

Tim Garman, owner of Fairport Brewing Company, said the tariffs have not impacted them. “Covid was a lot worse. Covid, we saw, like, doubling the price. You know, like, a can that would be, like, normally $0.20 complete. It was like $0.40,” Garman said.

Garman explained that they purchased a tractor trailer full of aluminum cans from Canada during the pandemic, and they are still using that supply. He anticipates needing to resupply soon but does not expect a significant price increase.

“No supply issues. Not at all. Maybe a little bump in the price, but again, you know, a can by itself without a lid [is] somewhere around $0.15 to $0.17. So 25% of that, we’re talking pennies,” Garman said.

However, Greg Fagen of Heroes Brewing Company expressed concerns about the aluminum tariff’s impact.

“We could see price increases, certainly for cans, but across the board, for raw materials, even things like shipping costs are likely to go up,” Fagen said. He noted that much of the aluminum comes from Canada and questioned the logic of the tariffs, saying “They want to boost U.S. production, but that takes time and effort to build factories and output those. And it just doesn’t seem to make sense.”

Fagen also wondered about the effects on larger breweries. “Certainly there’s bigger breweries than ours that can a lot more than we do. I think we’ll feel it more, but they may have a different buying scale,” Fagen said.

Strangebird Brewery founder Micah Krichinsky also issued a statement saying “We’re constantly assessing how our business is impacted by policy decisions, whether in Albany or Washington. Like many small businesses and companies both big and small across the beer industry, tariffs will have a direct impact on Strangebird and our customers, especially when it comes to our ability to absorb the associated costs. While it won’t deter us from creating some of the most innovative beer in New York State and giving our guests an incredible food and beverage experience at our brewpub, the financial and logistical impact of tariffs cannot be understated.”

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