You didn’t ask me, but events like 9/11, the housing crisis, and the pandemic were not planned events that caused an economic downturn. These tariffs, while in theory were done to reduce national debt, were entirely in our control and purposely enforced. Which one of these is not like the others…
I think the tariffs will have less impact on beer purchases than the decline in consumer confidence. If we are purposefully tanking the economy lots of jobs will go away before we can build the theoretical manufacturing hubs and factories that will supposedly bring new jobs and more prosperity…I’m not spending money on luxury items like premium beer/craft if I think my government is trying to put me out of business by not sharing any coherent plan and timeline for this.
But many absolutely love him like a God. Workmates of mine included. They think tariffs will make them wealthier. No real education.
People who haven't worked in technology and manufacturing.which is the vast majority now in the USA .have no idea what it will take to bring these factories back. It will be a tough decade. Then we will have to welcome back all those young healthy Immigrants back that we insulted and harmed to run these places. Would be nice if we forced the old MAGAs into factory work..but it would be a disaster.
10 years? You're being optimistic. Whatever new construction/greenfield plants that are built (and, given Trump's history of changing/dropping his demands, I'd say few will be, given the years it takes to build the plant and equipment) are going to be heavily automated and employ numerous robots from the start. In addition, the plants will be heavily subsidized by states whipsawing each other by offering higher and higher "tax incentives" (breaks). Mercedes got $170k per employee from Alabama back it 1993 - that's over 1/3 of a billion dollars today for each new job.
It sure sounds like it, and why not? I'm kind of stuck at the moment with figuring out how to approach this. Do I cut back on the thing I enjoy? Or do I let myself swallow the cost? Cutting out a lot of other things isn't as big of a deal - but the problem is also this being yet another hammer on small businesses, many of which are already struggling and the prospect of seeing more good places close is upsetting. Obviously things like Belgian beers are going to become even more of a luxury, but who knows how much of a future there is even going to be to enjoy at this point.
Yep, I know there’s a bit of a « cult » around him flattering his ego. Also, I know a number of Americans who are indeed conservatives but can’t stand him, and then there are the MAGA category… ah well.
Glass bottle imports are another issue. Hard to find any data specific to beer bottles. But a large percentage of glass containers in general are imported. (Even though the US exports a lot as well)
Yes, as mentioned above, barley and aluminum[unless something is worked out w/ Russia, re Ukraine, & Russian ore/aluminum is available again] , + everything that goes into the transport of beer, supplies &...well ...everything. Even without that^, the people involved, with their overall cost of living going up, will want to be paid more. & even if none of that^ was affected, it will happen anyway.....because they can. That's what happened last time, often well before the tariffs took effect, &/or also during COVID chaos. With no (official) pressure to do otherwise , the general trend was 'Hey, why not? $$$$$$"
I think they'll figure things out pretty quick when prices at the grocery store and liquor store start going up precipitously, and their wages stay the same. I know they won't want to admit they might have made a mistake (no one does), but they'll at least realize that tariffs on pretty much everything have not made them wealthier.
Well said. And I’m there already. I work in public education. Millions out there think I’m “the enemy.” Doesn’t exactly make me feel good about dropping coin on expensive four packs of beer when I hear that shit. Doesn’t exactly make me feel good about dropping coin on anything, honestly.
