'Disastrous, reckless policy': Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro blasts Trump tariffs during visit to Lehigh Valley craft brewery

Evan Jones, The Morning Call on Apr 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Beau Baden describes his business, Sherman Street Beer Co., as a “mom and pop” operation. Like many small-business owners in the Lehigh Valley and beyond, he’s concerned about the potential fallout from tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration and retaliatory ones from trading partners such as Canada.

“Myself and my wife run it day to day, and we’ve built a great community over there in our neighborhood,” Baden said of the brewery and pub in east Allentown. “We’ve been in business for four years. We’ve navigated plenty of chapters over the years. We’re facing a new hurdle with the tariffs.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro was at Bethlehem Brew Works on Wednesday afternoon to hear from local craft brewers, including Baden and Brew Works owner Jeff Fegley, about how the tariffs could hurt the bottom line. Earlier in the day, the Trump administration announced the United States will implement a 25% tariff on all imported canned beer and empty aluminum cans, which are used by a majority of craft brewers, starting Friday.

Around the same time as Shapiro’s appearance in Bethlehem, President Donald Trump announced a sweeping set of additional tariffs during an address from the White House Rose Garden. Trump has made the tariffs a centerpiece of his administration, saying they are necessary to reverse trade deficits and promote U.S. manufacturing.

Critics, however, warn the tariffs risk raising prices and starting a larger trade war.

“This is not hard to understand,” said Shapiro, who is considered a front-runner among Democrats in the next presidential race in 2028. “You do not need a degree of economics in order to make sense of what is about to occur. A tariff is a tax, and it increases the price for consumers and for businesses.”

Sherman Street Beer Co. opened in the midst of the COVID pandemic, but Baden, who co-owns the brewery and pub with Casey Decia, is entering uncharted territory as costs for supplies such as malt, barley, cans and other equipment could go up. He may be forced to pass those costs to customers.

“Our suppliers are going to be passing on the cost of them to us,” Baden said. “Cans are a big portion of our business. So we’ve got to figure out what we’re going to be doing to offset that. It’s either we eat the money on our end … we’re a small business where profit margins are very tiny. So we have to figure we have to pass on the consumer who is also price sensitive.

“Right now, it’s a big, big, difficult decision to make,” he said.

Fegley, who opened the Brew Works in 1998 at the corner of Main and West Broad streets and runs it with his family, said the new trade policies are “a big unknown” for small businesses.

“We have ingredients that come from Canada and other things that are sourced that potentially are going to be increasing overnight,” Fegley said.

Shapiro, who is touring the state to visit small businesses that could be affected by tariffs, said “Main Street” businesses are going to be hurt the most by a trade war. According to the Brewers Association, Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer in the U.S. with more than 500 breweries adding $5.4 billion to the state economy.

“Unfortunately, costs are going up because of decisions in Washington,” Shapiro said. “It’s not the folks here at Fegley’s fault, it’s Donald Trump’s fault. We’re going to do everything we can in Pennsylvania to continue to invest in our main streets, our businesses, and push back on this policy coming out of Washington, and meet this disastrous, reckless policy with more common sense here in the commonwealth.”

State Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, said consumers are already worried about rising prices, and many will likely cut back on such items as craft beer.

“The craft brewery industry has had a tremendous and positive impact on our communities across the commonwealth, and today the Lehigh Valley is home to over 20 craft breweries,” Boscola said. “However, like so many of the restaurants and taverns, craft breweries are still attempting to recover from the pandemic, and now we’re adding tariffs on top.”

_____