SANFORD, Fla. — President Donald Trump officially increased tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to 25% effective Wednesday.
In response, the European Union and Canada have announced retaliatory trade action.
This unrest has some Central Florida business owners concerned over how their bottom line will be impacted.
Greg Piecora is the owner of Wop's Hops Brewing Company in Sanford, a business that’s been in the community for 10 years.
They can some of their beers in house and ship them to shelves of major stores. For now, Piecora says are good on supplies for a few months – but after that, they don’t how the tariffs will hit their bottom line.
“Right now, we're not too concerned about the price of aluminum cans. We have been told by our can brokers that we have enough cans in the United States to last us through September,” Piecora said.
He says that will guarantee they won’t see an increase in can prices for at least the next six months.
“After that, we don’t know,” he said. "If the tariff goes into effect, that's going to end our canning. We're not going to be able to afford to can anymore and we're not going to be able to sell those canned products in stores throughout Florida.”
Piecora says they can three of their beers in house – which is an important part of their marketing and advertising. Having their Wop’s Hops canned beer on store shelves from Gainesville to Miami is another way they attract customers to visit the brewery.
“They see our brand. They see our location. They come to our location. They repeat buy our beers. So, it's important to have a can out there in the market because there's so much competition and there are so many beers to choose from. It's important to have a place on that shelf in that store,” Piecora explained.
He says it’s difficult to predict what will happen with all the unrest surrounding tariffs.