Donald Trump is trying to bully Canada to win re-election by arbitrarily imposing a tariff on Canadian aluminum, forcing Canada to respond in kind. The end result is that ordinary people on both sides of the border will pay more for everything from aluminum foil to cars, to beer; all because a desperate American President is putting politics ahead of people.
“Trump’s tariffs and the unavoidable Canadian response will cost small breweries in both Canada and the U.S., in our case about $0.02 per can,” says Dominion City co-founder Josh McJannett. “It might not sound like a lot, but even at our scale this wasteful tax can add up to thousands of dollars per month.”
This is a needless hurdle in an already difficult year. Local businesses like ours now have a decision to make; eat the cost or charge our customers more. Small breweries are now caught in the middle of an unjust and unnecessary trade war, but like Canada itself, we can't roll over.
These tariffs are designed to weaken us, but they won’t succeed. Thanks to the support of our community, instead of being cowed, we're taking a stand and we’re inviting our fans to join us.
We will not raise our prices. Furthermore, we will donate an equivalent two cents for every can sold between today and the end of September to Jaku Konbit, a local Black-led organization building community here in Ottawa. When customers checkout their purchase on our website, they’re invited to add their own donation, 100 per cent of which will be passed on to this important charity in our city.
“This is about more than beer - it’s about fairness between friends,” says McJannett. “Together with our fans we hope to make the best of a bad situation until our friends south of the border remember who they are again.”