Fixing America’s Trade Deficit by Drinking Craft Beer?

By Victoria Hines

Congressman DeFazio urged Americans this week to drink craft beer in order to help deal with the U.S.’s trade deficit. He reasoned that by drinking beers produced by foreign-owned companies, Americans are contributing to the trade deficit, which has recently increased by 15.6 percent in August.  A trade deficit could potentially be detrimental to the U.S. economy if it increases the value of the U.S. dollar. However, DeFazio’s comment is somewhat misleading. Although some major brands, such as Miller, are foreign owned, they are still generally brewed and bottled stateside and thereby do not affect the trade deficit.