Mexican Beer Sales Go Flat, American Brands Fizz As Trump Tightens Border

While the Biden administration was letting tens of millions of illegal aliens into the country, Mexican beer – specifically Modelo Especial – became the best-selling beer in the United States. Now, as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducts arrests amid a mass deportation push, sales of Mexican beer, including Modelo, Pacifico and Corona, are plummeting as US brands are back on the rise.

In April, Constellation Brands (which owns said Mexican beers) CEO Bill Newlands said that Hispanic consumers are spending less due to their concerns over Trump’s immigration policies and possible job losses in industries which have high Latino employment. In fact, during an earnings call earlier this month, Newlands specifically noted that ICE raids are making it difficult to predict consumer behavior. 

To wit, Constellation missed on both earnings and revenue estimates in the 2nd quarter – which said that roughly half of their beer sales come from Hispanic shoppers. Meanwhile, shares in Constellation fell over 20% just weeks before President Donald Trump took office. 

“The fact is, a lot of consumers in the Hispanic community are concerned right now … And what does that do? That has tended to mean that the consumer has pulled back on spending on a number of categories … As you know, Modelo is over 50% Hispanic in terms of its demographic base. So, this decline in efforts to go to restaurants, to have social fatherings, things that are very much beer occasions have softened in the more recent term,” Newlands said during the April call. 

Right now, Walmart and other retailers have Modelo on sale for up to 30%. 

American Beer Gets Hoppy

Meanwhile, America’s oldest brewery, Yuengling – which partnered with Molson Coors in 2020 to expand to the West Coast outside of their traditional 22-state footprint, plans to expand to Michigan in August after entering Illinois earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, Michelob Ultra – owned by Anheuser-Busch, saw 34% revenue growth in Q1 2025. 

Earlier this month, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) signed a bill into law slashing taxes on American-made beer in his state, aimed at strengthening “the beer industry and the manufacturing sector within Missouri and across the United States.”

And in May, Anheuser-Busch announced a $300 million investment in manufacturing operations across the United States. This follows nearly $2 billion in investments in the company’s 100 facilities across the country in order to enhance operations and technology.