Don’t buy China-made tanks!

America First. Some politicians were irritated that Genesee Brewing Company, a brewery from New York state, might receive state funding while buying tanks from China that could have been produced in New York.

As Genesee’s tanks slowly floated down the waterways to its brewery in Rochester, New York, at the end of May, the angry lawmakers told media that a US company nearby, Syracuse-based Feldmeier Equipment Inc., could have produced the twelve China-made tanks.

But the huffing-and-puffing lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties got their info wrong.

At this stage, Genesee is only eligible for about USD ten million in grants and tax credits from the Empire State Development fund for its USD 50 million expansion project, but has not received any grants and tax credits yet.

Replying to the underlying accusation of squandering taxpayers’ money to a foreign firm, an Empire State Development spokesman was quoted as saying that none of those state incentives applied to the tank purchases. Genesee’s current expansion project first has to meet specific investment and job creation goals over the next 10 years before it can apply for funds which would go towards future expansions for a restaurant and bar.

Such is the hysteria about America’s foreign trade deficit that Genesee had to justify its purchasing decisions to the media, although they were funded by private money.

Genesee was founded in 1878 and, after a spell under the wings of private equity and a name change to North American Breweries, was sold to Florida Ice and Farm Company (FIFCO) from Costa Rica in 2012. It produced 2.8 million hl beer in 2015, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights, including the Trouble Brewing brand for Walmart.