Blumenauer, Collins Introduce CIDER Act

Washington, DC – Today, Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (OR-03) and Chris Collins (NY-27) introduced the bipartisan Cider Industry Deserves Equal Regulation (CIDER) Act. The act would amend the section of the tax code that deals with wine and related beverages, 26 USC § 5041, to allow hard cider makers increased flexibility in their final product without potentially facing increased tax liability.

During the fermentation process a variety of factors can lead to small changes in the composition of a cider's alcohol content and carbonation. Because of the narrow way that hard cider is currently defined in the tax code, these small variations can lead to cider being taxed at a rate fifteen times higher than what the statute clearly intended. The Blumenauer-Collins bill would broaden this definition to include pear as well as apple cider and to greatly reduce the chance this improper taxation would occur.

"Cider making is sometimes closer to an art than a science," said Blumenauer. "As the American apple and pear hard cider industry becomes more prominent on the world stage and cider becomes a beverage choice for more Americans' developing palettes, we need to ensure that cideries have every opportunity to expand and meet the needs of this growing market without an unfair tax burden."

"I am proud to introduce legislation that will support our nation's apple growers and cider makers," said Collins. "This bill will help spur growth in the American apple industry by allowing it to be more competitive on an international level, and I thank Representative Blumenauer for joining me in this goal" said Congressman Chris Collins.

"Blumenauer and Collins's Cider Bill comes at a crucial time for the small but quickly growing cider industry," said James Kohn, owner of Wandering Aengus Ciderworks in Salem, Oregon. "The current excise tax for fermented ciders does not capture accurately the ciders we produce or most of the ciders in the US. And this is very confusing to current producers and the growing number of new cider producers in Oregon and the Northwest. This Cider Bill will end this confusion and ensure ciders are taxed consistently."

"We are very pleased that Congressmen Blumenauer and Collins are working to assist cideries not only in our part of the country, but nationally as well," said Sherrye Wyatt, Executive Director of the Northwest Cider Association, which represents cideries in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia. "These Main Street small businesses are ready to expand their capacity to keep up with strong demand, create jobs and become a key component of the country's economic recovery. The changes proposed by Congressman Blumenauer and Collins will update the existing federal definition of cider to better reflect the industry and keep American cider competitive in the international marketplace. It's an unprecedented time in the Northwest cider industry. We're experiencing tremendous growth. We need to remove any barriers which may prevent cider from realizing its greatest potential. It's time for cider to write a new chapter in history."

"Today, Congressmen Blumenauer and Collins took a critical first step towards making the United States hard cider industry more competitive internationally and treated more fairly under the tax code," said Mike Beck, President of the United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM). "Our industry has tripled in size since 2007 and the existing tax structure is insufficient to deal with this growth. As a result, the potential to stunt this surge exists, and HR 2921 will remedy this problem. On behalf of the United States Association of Cider Makers, I am pleased to fully endorse this legislation and pledge our grassroots efforts to this legislation's success."