Over the years, I spent a lot of time on the roads of Darke County running my trucking business. You get to know a place when you’re moving freight through it, passing by the farms, the grain elevators, the small restaurants and taverns that keep a community together. All of those pieces connect, and when one part of the rural economy takes a hit, everyone feels it sooner or later. That’s why, when the American beer industry is struggling to compete with foreign imports, we should all stop and take notice.
About 25 percent of beer consumed in the United States is now imported. It was just 14 percent back in 2013, a significant jump in a short amount of time. More than 80 percent of those imports come from Mexico, where brewery workers earn around $3,700 a year. Meanwhile, American brewery workers earn nearly $80,000 a year. That gap tells you everything. We hold our businesses to high standards of fair wages, safe working conditions, and meaningful tax contributions. Mexican producers simply don’t operate under the same rules, making the competition completely unfair.
This matters here in Darke County because we’re farm country. American breweries purchase over a billion dollars in agricultural inputs every year. That includes crops like barley and grain that our farmers grow. When imports go up and domestic brewing declines, that demand shrinks. Everyone, from farmers and grain operators to truckers, takes a hit. And the small restaurants and taverns I’ve always been proud to support, the places that make a small town feel like home, feel it when distributors have fewer domestic brands to offer.
We’ve all seen what happens to communities when American industries lose ground to foreign competition. It is a slow bleed, and it takes a very long time to recover. We shouldn’t wait until the damage is done.
The Trump Administration has proposed tariffs on beer imported from Mexico, and I believe that is the right call. It’s consistent with the America First trade policy that has already made a real difference for Ohio manufacturers. These tariffs will level the playing field and give American producers a fair shot.
I’m asking the Administration to move forward and follow through on these proposed tariffs. Protect our farmers, our workers, and the small businesses that depend on a healthy American beer industry. That is what America First looks like in practice right here in Darke County.
