USA, WI: Wisconsin brewers hope for relief from excise taxes, tariffs

A tariff and tax fight is brewing, and it could impact Wisconsin beermakers, waow.com reported on February 22.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin talked about tax cuts and tariffs for Wisconsin brewers as she toured Good City Brewing’s new taproom next to Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.

A bipartisan bill, the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, would cut excise taxes on beer, wine and spirits in half — from $7 a barrel to $3.50.

“We’ll be pushing very hard to make sure that it’s extended and made permanent,” Baldwin said.

That would save Wisconsin craft brewers about $2 million a year in taxes.

“When craft manufacturers get relief from an excise tax, they’re small businesses, and they’re going to reinvest back in their business,” Baldwin said.

Good City Brewing and more than 170 craft breweries in Wisconsin are also being hit by President Donald Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel.

“As we’ve issued new purchase orders for cans, we’ve seen our pricing go up,” said Dan Katt of Brew City Brewing.

Higher-priced cans are a bigger deal for a large brewer like MillerCoors, and the tariff doesn’t just impact aluminum cans.

Craft brewers said the tariff on stainless steel adds about 8 to 10 percent to the cost of buying a brew kettle.

That’s why Baldwin is hoping to offset the impact of the tariff by making the excise tax cut for brewers permanent.

MillerCoors said on February 21 the company supports the effort to make the tax reform act permanent.

25 February, 2019