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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>How Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum could hit you at the grocery store</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width"> <link id="favicon" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAHlJREFUOBFjYBgFFIcA48cYpf/opvAv+YouxODXshZDbFONDSMLSJRv8V245KdYZTD7//8XcDFGRgkwe2O1NVzMv/UomA02AMQCaUQ2CCQG0ohsEEgMphHEBgEmCIWdRNeMTRXYBTBnw2iYQpjTYXx022Hio/RAhwAAjXEfJrIXnj4AAAAASUVORK5CYII="> <style> body { display: block; padding: 0px 20px; max-width: 550px; margin: 0 auto; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; } .full-version-link { margin-left: 15px; } .slug-line { font-size: 1.1rem; margin-bottom: 15px; } .hr-line { position: relative; height: 4px; } .hr-line:after { background: linear-gradient(to right, #e60000 0%, #e60000 33.33%, #000000 33.33%, #000000 66.66%, #3366CC 66.66%); position: absolute; content: ''; height: 4px; right: 0; left: 0; top: 0; } hr.gray { border: .5px solid gray; } .story-title { line-height: 2rem; font-size: 1.5rem; margin: 0; } .topic-heading { line-height: 2rem; font-size: 1.5rem; } .topic-container>ul { padding: 0; line-height: 1.4rem; } .topic-container li { display: block; padding-bottom: 15px; } .topic-container { margin-top: 20px; } .topic-date { margin: 20px 0; font-style: italic; } .paragraphs-container { line-height: 1.5rem; } .button:link, .button:visited { background-color: white; color: black; border: 2px solid black; padding: 4px 8px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; } .button:hover, .button:active { background-color: black; color: white; } .lower-nav-container { margin-top: 40px; } .lower-nav-container li { margin-left: 0; display: inline; padding-right: 20px; } h6 { text-transform: uppercase; } </style> </head> <body> <header> <p>Text-Only Version <a class="full-version-link button" href="https://www.npr.org/nx-s1-5300051">Go To Full Site</a></p> </header> <main> <article> <div class="story-container"> <p class="slug-line"> <a class="slug-link" href="/">NPR</a> > <a class="slug-link" href="/1006">Business</a> </p> <div class="story-head"> <h1 class="story-title">How Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum could hit you at the grocery store</h1> <p>By Joe Hernandez</p> <p>Thursday, February 20, 2025 • 5:01 AM EST</p> <p>Heard on <a href="/nx-s1-5271098/2025-02-24">All Things Considered</a> </div> <div class="hr-line"></div> <div class="paragraphs-container"> <p>From soft drinks and beer to aerosols and shelf-stable soups, many everyday grocery items sold in steel and aluminum cans could be in store for a price hike.</p><p>President Trump announced this month that he planned to impose a <a href="/2025/02/10/g-s1-47656/trump-tariffs-aluminum-steel-imports" target="_blank">25% tariff</a> on all imported steel and aluminum in a bid to boost American producers by cracking down on foreign competition.</p><p>But food and beverage industry experts warn that driving up the cost of imported steel and aluminum could make it more expensive to manufacture cans in the U.S. — a price increase that will ultimately be passed on to consumers.</p><p>Ken Henricks, owner and president of Alter Brewing Co. in suburban Chicago, said the increasing cost of cans could hurt the craft beer sector at a time of rising inflation and growing competition from large beer companies.</p><p>"We just don't have any more room to give without raising pricing. And if we raise price, I know that with people's buying power being less today, our volumes will decrease," he said. "We're really at a tough spot."</p> <hr> Related Story: <a href="/g-s1-47656">NPR</a> <hr><p>The tariffs on steel and aluminum aren't new. In fact, it was Trump who <a href="/2018/03/08/591744195/trump-expected-to-formally-order-tariffs-on-steel-aluminum-imports" target="_blank">implemented them</a> during his first term in office. At the time, Trump put only a 10% tariff on aluminum and permitted some far-reaching exemptions to the steel tariffs, which the Biden administration kept in place. Now, Trump says, those exemptions are <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-restores-section-232-tariffs/" target="_blank">being removed</a> and the aluminum tariff is being increased to 25% as of March 12. </p><p>The policy shift comes as consumers still face high costs for a range of products. Inflation <a href="/2025/02/12/nx-s1-5294353/inflation-consumer-prices-eggs" target="_blank">rose again</a> in January, with consumer prices increasing 3% year over year.<br></p><p><h3>U.S. can production relies on foreign steel and aluminum</h3></p><p>Steel and aluminum have a slew of uses across multiple industries, but the food and beverage business in the U.S. relies on both materials for cans.</p><p>The U.S. produces 135 billion metal cans each year, according to industry data provided by the Can Manufacturers Institute. That includes roughly 115 billion aluminum beverage cans and 20 billion steel cans for food and other products.</p><p>American can manufacturers source raw materials from both the U.S. and abroad. While imports account for only about 10% of the aluminum used by American can-makers, some 70% of the tin mill steel used to make steel food cans in the U.S. <a href="https://www.cancentral.com/can-manufacturers-call-on-trump-to-protect-national-food-security/" target="_blank">comes from foreign sources</a>, which means makers of steel cans could see their prices rise more sharply.<br></p><p><h3>Domestic production of steel and aluminum lags</h3></p><p>If foreign steel becomes too costly, it will be hard for American producers to pick up the slack, according to Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain resiliency at the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group for consumer-packaged goods.</p><p>"The industry sources the majority of ingredients and inputs from U.S. sources, however, specialty products like tin mill steel can only be sourced from the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries due to lack of domestic supply," he said in a statement.</p> <hr> Related Story: <a href="/nx-s1-5296521">NPR</a> <hr><p>After Trump imposed tariffs on steel in 2018, nine American tin mill steel producers shut down, according to the Can Manufacturers Institute. Only three production lines remain open in the U.S. today, the group said.</p><p>Domestic aluminum producers could struggle to ramp up production too.</p><p>Charles Johnson, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association, <a href="https://www.aluminum.org/news/strong-trade-enforcement-access-metal-vital-continued-aluminum-industry-growth" target="_blank">praised</a> Trump's efforts to uplift the industry, while adding in a statement, "Today, there is not enough smelting capacity in the United States to supply the growing aluminum industry with the input materials it needs."<br></p><p><h3>Businesses wait to see how they'll be impacted</h3></p><p>Kat Kavner Woolf, co-founder and CEO of Heyday Canning Co., is hopeful that can prices won't skyrocket. Her small business, launched at the end of 2022, uses steel cans for its soups and beans.</p><p>"The biggest thing for us right now is just the not-knowing," Woolf said. "And because we are small, we don't have a direct relationship with these suppliers that are pretty big. We don't have anyone that we can just pick up the phone and call and be like, 'Where is your steel coming from?'"</p><p>Henricks, of Alter Brewing, said he had recently been hoping to negotiate a lower price with his aluminum can supplier due to the growing volume of his order. But after Trump announced the tariffs, Henricks went into the meeting with the goal of simply holding his can costs stable moving forward. "I couldn't even get a commitment there," he said.</p><p>Breweries such as Alter could see prices rise for other materials they use as well. The Brewers Association, which represents more than 9,500 small and independent brewers, said in a statement that tariffs could also increase the costs of "fermenters, steel tanks, brewhouses, and building materials, while a 25% tariff on aluminum, the preferred packing method for many craft brewers, would further increase the cost of cans for small producers."<br></p><p><h3>Costlier cans could mean higher prices and different packaging</h3></p><p>Food and beverage industry experts warn that it's American shoppers who will end up paying for the tariffs at the cash register if steel and aluminum<strong> </strong>can prices rise.</p> <hr> Related Story: <a href="/nx-s1-5292017">NPR</a> <hr><p>Robert Budway, president of the Can Manufacturers Institute, said the tariffs will "create an inflationary impact on the consumer, who relies heavily on canned foods to meet their everyday needs of feeding their family nutritious, affordable meals." Madrecki, with the Consumer Brands Association, said the "impact of tariffs on steel and aluminum will be felt by [consumer packaged goods] manufacturers and consumers at the grocery store."</p><p>In a <a href="https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_419fafe73665bc0cb57a94fe698b2106/cocacolacompany/db/764/8189/file/CORRECTED+TRANSCRIPT++The+Coca-Cola+Co.%28KO-US%29%2C+Q4+2024+Earnings+Call%2C+11-February-2025+8+30+AM+ET.pdf" target="_blank">recent earnings call</a>, Coca-Cola's chairman and CEO, James Quincey, said the impact of tariffs wouldn't be "insignificant, but it's not going to radically change a multibillion-dollar U.S. business."</p><p>In 2018, Coca-Cola and Boston Beer, the maker of Samuel Adams, said they were increasing prices after tariffs were announced, <em>USA Today</em> <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/07/30/coca-cola-raises-prices-amidst-trump-tariff-aluminum/865736002/" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p><p>Yet on the recent call, Quincey also suggested that if aluminum cans became more expensive, the company could package more of its drinks in plastic bottles.</p><p>An estimated 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in global waterways each year, the vast majority of which is <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101" target="_blank">single-use plastics</a>, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.</p> <hr> <h3>Transcript</h3> <p>AILSA CHANG, HOST: <p><p> Soup, soda and beer could be in store for price hikes soon. That's because the Trump administration's tariffs on steel and aluminum could make it more expensive to produce metal cans. The U.S. makes roughly 135 billion cans each year for foods, drinks and lots of other items, and producers say the rising cost will hit consumers. NPR's Joe Hernandez reports.<p><p>JOE HERNANDEZ, BYLINE: Earlier this year, Ken Henricks was hoping to get a better deal on aluminum cans. The owner of Alter Brewing Company in suburban Chicago was planning to ask his can supplier for a bulk discount, but after President Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, Henricks had to change his strategy.<p><p>KEN HENRICKS: I approached the meeting a little differently and was hoping to hold my pricing for 2025, and I couldn't even get a commitment there.<p><p>HERNANDEZ: Trump imposed similar tariffs during his first term, but there were major exemptions, and the tax on aluminum was much lower. Now food and beverage industry leaders say the higher cost of importing those raw materials will mean higher costs for shoppers. Robert Budway is president of the Can Manufacturers Institute and Industry Trade Group.<p><p>ROBERT BUDWAY: Those costs of the metal are passed on to the food companies, and then those food companies pass on those costs to the consumer, ultimately.<p><p>HERNANDEZ: According to the Trade Group, 10% of the aluminum used to make aluminum cans in the U.S. is imported, but some 70% of the tin mill steel used to make steel food cans in the U.S. comes from outside the country. Now business owners are scrambling to figure out whether the new tariffs will impact their bottom line. Kat Kavner Woolf, co-founder and CEO of Heyday Canning Co., says she isn't sure if her small business will be paying more for their steel cans.<p><p>KAT KAVNER WOOLF: Because we are small, like, we don't have a direct relationship with these suppliers that are pretty big. Like, we don't have anyone that we can just pick up the phone and call and be like, where's your steel coming from?<p><p>HERNANDEZ: If can prices do rise, businesses will have to adjust. Coca-Cola's CEO said the company could package more of its drinks in plastic bottles. Others may have to raise prices. But Henricks, the brewery owner, says he's already squeezed by rising inflation and competition from larger companies.<p><p>HENRICKS: We just don't have anymore room to give without raising pricing. And if we raise price, I know that, you know, with people's buying power being less today, our volumes will decrease. So we're really at a tough spot.<p><p>HERNANDEZ: The tariffs are set to take effect on March 12. Joe Hernandez, NPR News.<p> </div> </div> </article> </main> <div class="hr-line"></div> <nav> <p>Topics</p> <ul> <li><a href="/1001">News</a></li> <li><a href="/1008">Culture</a></li> <li><a href="/1039">Music</a></li> </ul> </nav> <footer> <nav class="lower-nav-container"> <li><a href="/614470770">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a href="/179876898">Terms of Use</a></li> <li><a href="/179881519">Permissions</a></li> <li><a href="/179878450">Privacy Policy</a></li> </nav> <p>&copy NPR</p> </footer> </body> </html>