If you were thinking you could just ride out a Donald Trump presidency at your local watering hole, we have some news that could kill your buzz—if you’re drawn to Mexican brews, anyway. The Chicago Tribune reports that shares in Constellation Brands, parent company to Modelo and Corona, dropped after the GOP candidate won the presidential election on Tuesday. The Tribune notes there was a 7.6 percent decline following the country’s selection of the GOP candidate, who, if you’ll recall, powered his campaign in part with a special biodiesel fuel comprising racism and hatred. (Somewhere, Myron Ebell’s scoffing.)
But at an investor gathering on Wednesday, Constellation CEO Rob Sands didn’t attribute the drop to Trump’s ascension. Sands remains cautiously optimistic about the Mexico-based company’s future, telling the Trib: “It’s way too early to understand how (Trump’s) positions on Mexican trade and immigration will affect our business. We’ve all heard the campaign rhetoric and we all have our own thoughts on that…. But I don’t expect it to affect our business in the short term, and as new policies are presented, we will respond accordingly.”
In fact, Sands thinks that Republicans’ preference for “business-friendly taxation” means Constellation’s mostly in the clear. And, as company spokesman Mike McGrew points out, “Mexico is obviously an important trade partner to the U.S. and we remain very optimistic that the new administration will want to maintain that trade relationship…. Each and every year, there are things said on the campaign trail that change once the candidate gets in office.” Ah, the old “wait and see” approach—that’s Business 101, right?