“The way it is formulated is all beer that is, whatever the container, but we are looking for clarifications,” said an initiate of the industry. “It is not as if beer is the only product that comes to the cans.”
European beer exports to the United States exceeded 1.1 billion euros last year, with Guinness, Heineken and Stella Artois among the bestsellers. About a fifth of this job, by value, is shipped in cans. The customs code applies worldwide – so even the best exporters such as Mexico, which provides more than 60% of American beer imports, are affected.
The scope of the price has left the uncertain companies to know whether to ship – or sit tight and hope for clarification. Belgian brewers, already operating on tight margins, fear a prolonged dead end.
“We do not know how long the measure will be in force, and this uncertainty is already harmful,” said Raf de Jonghe, manager of the Brewers Belgian group beer, in Nieuwsblad du Belgian Daily.
Trump, who has been abstaining alcohol for a long time because of the battle of his late brother Fred against dependence, once launched his own vodka brand – “successful success”, as the slogan said.
The European Commission estimates that its new radical prices – including a 20% coverage levy and separate 25% tasks on cars, steel and aluminum – will affect up to 70% of all EU exports to the United States, worth some 380 billion euros.
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