The Can Van is a mobile beer and wine packaging company based in Sacramento that specializes in canning. The company works with local breweries including Urban Roots, Fort Rock Brewing and Slice Beer Company.
Co-founder and CEO Jenn Coyle said the company got into the aluminum packaging space because aluminum has many benefits: it protects the product from light and oxygen and is lighter and more recyclable.
“We purchase cans to bring to breweries or to wineries for their canning,” Coyle said. “Some of our clients source their own cans directly from the companies, or they source them from companies who decorate the cans, like with a shrink sleeve before they send it to the producer to the brewery. So we are just part of a long chain of suppliers in the aluminum can industry.”
The company started in 2011 by offering canning to local breweries, and in 2015, it added wine canning.
The Can Van is facing uncertainty when it comes to their aluminum products with the recent emergence of tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports.
In February, President Donald Trump signed proclamations to restore 25% tariffs on steel and raised aluminum imports to 25% from all American trade partners.
The imposed tariffs are an attempt to boost American producers and end unfair trade practices from foreign competition. The aluminum and steel tariffs went into effect on Wednesday, March 12.
Coyle said that although they haven’t felt the effect of the aluminum tariffs yet, she’s worried about the costs of the materials going up and diminishing for her small business.
“We all have a lot of concern that with the increase in prices of just the raw materials that we need to make the products, that the consumers aren't going to be willing to absorb that, and they're going to be switching to other options, or just foregoing these products in general,” she said. “That's gonna hurt everyone in the industry who provides all these services and all these pieces of these products that are being made.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel; he did it in his first administration in 2018. He imposed 25% tariffs on steel and 10% tariffs on aluminum.
Aluminum and steel tariffs will drive up costs for Americans that use the metals in construction, packaging, manufacturers, automotive, and consumer goods.
They will also affect small businesses that rely on steel and aluminum imports, like The Car Van, which gets most of its aluminum materials from Canada.
The Can Vans onsite packaging at the facility where they package the beverage at Tank Space. (Photo courtesy of Jenn Coyle)Manufactures uncertain about tariffs
Although the Trump Administration is attempting to restore fairness in steel and aluminum markets in the United States, manufacturers say that the tariffs will create local pricing instability.
Lance Hastings, president and CEO of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, predicted that prices would increase soon, describing tariffs as a “cost driver.”
“Tariffs end up being paid by American consumers; that's how it works. It's not a tax on the country that's exporting. It's actually a cost increase on the company that's importing,” Hastings said. “And we try to manage those costs as best we can. The more concerning nature of these current tariffs are the quick to switch with which they've been announced, and the removal within days of them being implemented.”
The manufacturing sector is looking five to 10 years down the road, and it's challenging to plan when short-term disruptions affect those plans, according to Hastings.
“That can't be understated; it is very destabilizing because all we want are stability and reliability on the regulatory landscape, the legislative landscape, the input landscape between capital and workforce,” he said. The tariffs tend to disrupt that.”
On March 13, Canada imposed 25% retaliatory tariffs on $29.8 billion in products imported from the United States.
Those tariffs will remain in place until the United States reverses its tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel products.
“That makes the goods that we manufacture in this country and trying to export more expensive in those countries, and it ends up being a kind of a race to the bottom,” Hastings said. “What I'd like to see is countries sitting down within existing trade agreements or even new ones, and having conversations about what trade between countries should look like. That's, I think, a better path forward, but we'll have to see.”
Hastings mentioned that California will be adding a new steel mill coming from the Pacific Steel Group. They’re going to build the state's first new steel mill for the first time in 50 years, “which is a good sign, but the tariffs in the near term are going to be very disruptive,” Hastings said.
Large cans of beer being filled by the Can Van at a Sacramento brewery. (Photo courtesy of Jenn Coyle)
Small businesses await price jumps from tariffs
According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, the United States produces 135 billion metal cans for food, beverage and other products each year.
Coyle said there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about tariffs right now, with the Canadian tariffs being levied and rolled back. She said their suppliers have not been raising prices on purchases for them and their clients.
“I do feel like it's going to be trickling down because a lot of what we do get from Canada is raw aluminum stock,” Coyle said. “So while the cans themselves are made here in the U.S., they require a portion of aluminum.”
Coyle said The Can Van buys cans from a packaging company like Berlin or Saxco, both in Fairfield. Those suppliers purchase cans from one of the manufacturers in the U.S.
Access to aluminum cans has been a significant challenge since The Can Van started, according to Coyle. She said the big can manufacturers are set up to serve their biggest customers, companies like Pepsi or Budweiser, and they won't sell cans directly to small buyers.
Coyle said introducing tariffs to the supply chain is especially hard on small businesses because they have fewer options and less margin to work with.
“Limiting options makes it harder for new brands and businesses to start up, and ultimately encourages a landscape for consumers where beverages are not only more expensive but with less variety and innovation.”
In an email, Coyle stated that importing cans from Mexico or China has given them access to packaging options and enabled them to can and sell their beverages.
“The aluminum cans are one key part of a long chain of business that bring a canned beverage to the shelf including the beverage producers, label and box makers, packaging service providers like us, distributors and retailers, all of which are impacted,” Coyle said.
Coyle said the company so far hasn’t been getting charged for the tariffs imposed. She said she thinks her suppliers are waiting to see what happens because the cans they’re currently using were produced a few months back.
“We've been in business long enough that we experienced the first round of tariffs on aluminum,” Coyle said. “It definitely increased the price of aluminum cans, and it felt like there was this increased price that didn't immediately turn around and drop when those tariffs expired or over time. It just sort of like is part of the inflationary landscape that we're all experiencing.”
Additional tariffs affect prices and manufacturing
With the ongoing tariffs announced by the president, a trade war is also raging between Mexico and Canada, the two countries on our borders. Both countries have 25% tariffs on all imports.
Canada is the largest importer of California wine, but due to a trade war, the country has decided to remove American-made wine and alcohol from its shelves.
Coyle said that since Canada stopped purchasing California wine, her business felt the impact immediately. She said that if the tariffs remain in place and Canada doesn’t buy California wine, her company will be unable to do its job, and no one will be paid.
“We have a client who makes a canned wine product specifically for the British Columbia liquor store,” Coyle said. “We were supposed to be canning it this week, actually, and a couple weeks ago, they said, ‘Well, they canceled this order, so we have to cancel this project.’ So there's a lot of people who are impacted by these policies at all levels.”
The cans for the Rosé wine order have already been printed. The wine is in the tank. It was on their schedule ready to go, but Canada will not take the product.
“We don’t get anything out of that,” Coyle said. “It's very disruptive to our schedule because we've booked the time, we've scheduled things. We've scheduled people, materials and all of that. So we try to move people around and do other projects, but it definitely has an impact.”
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