The mainstream media is running articles expressing concern that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause the price of AriZona Iced Tea to increase from its price of 99 cents, which has been in place since 1997. The corporation’s co-founder, Don Vultaggio, said the cost will likely increase due to Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports imposed on June 4, which Trump had previously implemented in his first term, and raised to 25 percent in February.
Despite its name, AriZona’s main production sites aren’t located in Arizona, but in Canada, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Vernon, California. The company’s headquarters are in Woodbury, New York.
The nation’s top iced tea company imports 20 percent of the aluminum used in its cans from Canada. The remaining 80 percent comes from recycled materials in the U.S, The Independent reported. Vultaggio said with inflation, his tea should be selling for $1.99 now, but due to a loyal customer base, he’s been able to keep the cost down.
However, not all beverage manufacturers intend to increase prices in response to the tariffs. Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said after the February tariffs that the company could shift to plastic bottles to avoid aluminum tariff costs. Adam S. Hersh, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, explained, “Corporations have more than sufficient profit margins to absorb small price increases to a small input to production.” Filippo Falorni, a beverage analyst at Citi, said, “It’s quite easy to change production lines from cans to bottles.”
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