Maine Brewers’ Guild chief, State Chamber CEO slam tariffs' toll on businesses

Photo / Pixabay.com Global trade wars and market turmoil spell trouble for Maine’s breweries, according to the head of the Maine Brewers’ Guild.

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By Renee Cordes

Global trade wars and market turmoil spell trouble for Maine’s breweries, according to the head of the Maine Brewers’ Guild.

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Sarah Bryan

“In many cases Maine’s breweries have already seen costs rise as a result of the ongoing tariff negotiations,” Sarah Bryan, the trade group’s executive director, told Mainebiz.

Her assessment comes even after President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on country specific tariffs, hours after announcing double-digit import tax rates on dozens of countries.

“Despite the 90-day pause in country-specific tariffs, the 25% increase in price to imported aluminum and steel, materials which are essential to Maine craft beer production, will remain in place,” Bryan noted.

“With the impact of more expensive goods still rippling through the industry and its vendors, we believe it is unlikely that prices will stabilize for the state's beverage manufactures within the next few months, particularly if changes are again to be enacted in July,” she added.

On Friday, China raised tariffs on U.S. goods to 125% in retaliation for a move by the Trump administration to raise the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports to 145%. Trump is also threatening tariffs and sanctions on Mexico over a long-running water dispute in Texas.

Stocks on Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 2.5% and the S&P 500 sliding 3.5% to erase some of Wednesday's gains. The U.S. dollar slumped to a three-year low against the euro on Friday, making imports more expensive.

Back in Maine, Bryan said that market volatility at this time of year is a headache for breweries scaling up batch size and frequency in anticipation of summer visitors. Instead of doing that as peak season approaches, breweries are scrambling to cut costs and in some cases holding back on expansion projects, she said.

On Monday afternoon in Portland, owners of several Maine small businesses and other business leaders plan to voice their concerns about tariffs at a press conference hosted by Orange Bike Brewing.

Maine State Chamber

Patrick Woodcock, president and CEO of the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, cited the disruption to businesses in all sectors across the state.

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Patrick Woodcock

“While we support long-term strategies to expand U.S. manufacturing and ensure fair trade practices with our trading partners, abrupt changes — especially involving our top trading partner, Canada — create real operational and planning difficulties for employers across the state,” Woodcock said in a statement emailed to Mainebiz.

“From supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures, the uncertainty has made it harder for businesses to make capital investments or pricing decisions with confidence,” he said.

Noting a "crisis in many Maine businesses" unleashed by the latest tariff announcement, Woodcock said that "we appreciate the suspension of the reciprocal tariffs and hope that there is ultimately collaboration to create a stable outlook and expand access to additional markets for Maine businesses.”