WASHINGTON -- Jeffrey Ware is brewing up a protest.
Ware, president of Dock Street Brewing Co., thinks the high tariffs placed by foreign countries on U.S. beers are unfair.
To get his point across, Ware put his message on a bottle, literally, and tossed it into the ocean of public opinion and the frothy sea of Washington bureaucracy.
Every bottle of premium amber beer produced in June by the small four-year-old Philadelphia an upside down label and the word 'protest' stamped on the bottleneck label.
Ware also mailed bottles to President Bush, Secretary of State James Baker, U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills and a bevy of other high-ranking trade officials and policymakers.
Dock Street's beer is marketed mainly in the greater Philadelphia area, portions of New Jersey and Delaware. The brewery also ships a few cases to Washington, New England and California.
Ware launched his protest to call attention to prohibitively high tariffs that, he says, are used by foreign countries to keep American beers at a competitive disadvantage in favor of local brews.
The brewer became aware of the tariff situation after shipping his beer to France. Although the beer sold well, a French distributor said it could do better if it was priced more competitively.
The problem? A 24 percent tariff placed on foreign beers by the 12-nation European Community.
An examination of tariffs slapped on U.S. beers by countries showed a similar situation. Mexico charges a 20 percent duty, or about $2.44 per case, on U.S. brews and China a staggering 120 percent levy, or about $14.64 per case.
The United States charges a tariff of 13.5 cents per case on most foreign beers.
'It didn't seem too fair to me,' Ware said. 'The duties are out of balance. Let's level out the playing field.'
Ware contends the high tariffs have prevented U.S. breweries from making much of a dent in the foreign market.
According to Commerce Department statistics, the United States imported about five times more beer than was exported last year. Total beer imports reached 268 million gallons last year, while exports amounted to about 48 million gallons.
Beers from the Netherlands were the most popular among U.S. beer drinkers. Imports from the Netherlands totaled 79.4 million gallons last year, followed by Canada with 67.4 million gallons; Mexico, 52.5 million gallons; and Germany, 32.1 million gallons.
Canada, with a tariff of only 24 cents per case, offered the greatest market for U.S. beers, buying nearly 14 million gallons last year. Japan, with a 34 cent-a-case duty was the second-largest buyer of American beers at 10.2 million gallons, followed by Hong Kong at 4.4 million gallons and Mexico at 3.47 million gallons.
Ware proposes the United States match tariff for tariff. In the meantime, he is urging beer drinkers to be true to American brews by shutting the tap on foreign suds until this issue is settled.
'I would love to see those duties reduced so my beer would be more competitive overseas or see foreign beer duties increased in the United States,' he said.
Ware is not alone in his tariff tiff.
The Beer Institute, a Washington-based trade association for the beer industry, has been trying for two years to convince trade officials to seek lower foreign tariffs.
'There are a number of trade barriers in these countries that make it difficult for a small brewery to get in. In this country the trade barriers are almost nonexistent,' said Gary Nateman, the institute's vice president and general counsel.
Two years ago, the Beer Institute drew up a resolution urging Congress and the White House to press for the elimination of barriers to the importation and sale of U.S. brews oversees.
Nateman said some minor victories have been won, but the issue has not been settled.
