CHICAGO — Spiteful Brewing co-founder Jason Klein spent part of Monday crunching numbers and questioning how he’ll make it if the cost of his supplies from Canada go up.
The Lincoln Square brewery has found stable footing with a can supplier in Ontario willing to work with a “Chicago pool” of breweries splitting a truckload at a time, “because we’re all too small to handle more,” Klein said.
“We know these guys, we know how the shipping works, they know to make sure someone is here to do the forklift and pull the cans off the truck,” Klein said. “We don’t want to have to scramble to find another supplier.”
But Klein and other small business owners are sweating out President Donald Trump’s looming threats to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, which would bring unforeseen consequences for goods made or shipped across country lines and often through Chicago, a central hub for trade .
That includes gas, avocados — and beer cans. Canada supplied more than half of America’s aluminum imports in 2023 .
“Electricity is cheaper there so that’s where we make aluminum,” said Robert Gulotty, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies tariffs. “When you have an integrated U.S.-Canada-Mexico market … there’s not going to just be a waiting competitor to fill the gap.”
Klein said he turned to Canada for cans after American companies serving larger competitors declined to ship the small brewery small quantities. He doesn’t have enough space to store truckloads at a time.
Now Klein fears the squeeze will force him to raise prices. The Illinois craft brewing industry has shrunk since the pandemic as barstool traffic slows and competition grows. Several previously-thriving local breweries and brewpubs have closed in recent years.
Late Monday, Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Canadian imports for 30 days after a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who planned to retaliate by slapping matching tariffs on U.S. imports. Hours earlier, Trump paused plans for tariffs on Mexico after President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. borde r.
Klein is left with a “wait and see” situation.
“We couldn’t absorb that much of a tax,” Klein said. “But it’s also not simple to change providers. I can’t see any good for us.”
Gulotty said the tariffs could be particularly harmful for small businesses that lack political power to lobby for exemptions or the financial padding to take the hit as industries shift.
“It’s going to be felt very unevenly,” Gulotty said. “They invest in these relationships, and to change shipping patterns, your client network, all that takes time. All while it’s not clear how long these tariffs would even be in effect … All that uncertainty is a weight on businesses.”
Trump said Sunday that American consumers could feel “a little pain” while he negotiates better deals for the country through an aggressive trade war.
“[T]he United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” Trump said.
Gov. JB Pritzker told MSNBC that working families will “pay the price” for high tariffs on essential goods such as gasoline from Canada.
“No other state in the nation imports more goods to Canada than the Land of Lincoln, and Illinois is one of the Top 5 states in exports to both Canada and Mexico,” Pritzker said in a Sunday social media post .
Dan Abel, CEO of Pilot Project Brewing, 2140 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square, said he sources both aluminum cans and barley from Canada.
“The percentage coming from Canada for this industry is staggering,” Abel said. “The impact will be realized almost immediately. We already experienced a can shortage during the pandemic … we lost top two of the top barley producers after the Russia-Ukraine war started … it’s just one hit after another.”
Klein is following the onslaught of national headlines about tariff talks but feels there’s still “not tons out there” in terms of information.
In Little Village, customers came to Moreno’s Liquors, 3724 W. 26th St. on Monday to “stock up” on beers and tequilas imported from Mexico in a rush to beat the tariffs, co-owner Mike Moreno said.
“That’s a short benefit for us,” said Moreno, who fears he’ll have to lay off staff if customers can no longer afford to shop at his store.
Francia Garcia Hernandez contributed reporting.
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The Lincoln Square brewery has found stable footing with a can supplier in Ontario willing to work with a “Chicago pool” of breweries splitting a truckload at a time, “because we’re all too small to handle more,” Klein said.
“We know these guys, we know how the shipping works, they know to make sure someone is here to do the forklift and pull the cans off the truck,” Klein said. “We don’t want to have to scramble to find another supplier.”
But Klein and other small business owners are sweating out President Donald Trump’s looming threats to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, which would bring unforeseen consequences for goods made or shipped across country lines and often through Chicago, a central hub for trade .
That includes gas, avocados — and beer cans. Canada supplied more than half of America’s aluminum imports in 2023 .
“Electricity is cheaper there so that’s where we make aluminum,” said Robert Gulotty, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies tariffs. “When you have an integrated U.S.-Canada-Mexico market … there’s not going to just be a waiting competitor to fill the gap.”
Klein said he turned to Canada for cans after American companies serving larger competitors declined to ship the small brewery small quantities. He doesn’t have enough space to store truckloads at a time.
Now Klein fears the squeeze will force him to raise prices. The Illinois craft brewing industry has shrunk since the pandemic as barstool traffic slows and competition grows. Several previously-thriving local breweries and brewpubs have closed in recent years.
Late Monday, Trump agreed to pause tariffs on Canadian imports for 30 days after a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who planned to retaliate by slapping matching tariffs on U.S. imports. Hours earlier, Trump paused plans for tariffs on Mexico after President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S. borde r.
Klein is left with a “wait and see” situation.
“We couldn’t absorb that much of a tax,” Klein said. “But it’s also not simple to change providers. I can’t see any good for us.”
Gulotty said the tariffs could be particularly harmful for small businesses that lack political power to lobby for exemptions or the financial padding to take the hit as industries shift.
“It’s going to be felt very unevenly,” Gulotty said. “They invest in these relationships, and to change shipping patterns, your client network, all that takes time. All while it’s not clear how long these tariffs would even be in effect … All that uncertainty is a weight on businesses.”
Trump said Sunday that American consumers could feel “a little pain” while he negotiates better deals for the country through an aggressive trade war.
“[T]he United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” Trump said.
Gov. JB Pritzker told MSNBC that working families will “pay the price” for high tariffs on essential goods such as gasoline from Canada.
“No other state in the nation imports more goods to Canada than the Land of Lincoln, and Illinois is one of the Top 5 states in exports to both Canada and Mexico,” Pritzker said in a Sunday social media post .
Dan Abel, CEO of Pilot Project Brewing, 2140 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Logan Square, said he sources both aluminum cans and barley from Canada.
“The percentage coming from Canada for this industry is staggering,” Abel said. “The impact will be realized almost immediately. We already experienced a can shortage during the pandemic … we lost top two of the top barley producers after the Russia-Ukraine war started … it’s just one hit after another.”
Klein is following the onslaught of national headlines about tariff talks but feels there’s still “not tons out there” in terms of information.
In Little Village, customers came to Moreno’s Liquors, 3724 W. 26th St. on Monday to “stock up” on beers and tequilas imported from Mexico in a rush to beat the tariffs, co-owner Mike Moreno said.
“That’s a short benefit for us,” said Moreno, who fears he’ll have to lay off staff if customers can no longer afford to shop at his store.
Francia Garcia Hernandez contributed reporting.
