Why can't we make beer cans in Canada?

I remember early last year when Trump's tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel were brought in, and there were interviews on TV with Canadian brewers lamenting that the beer cans they imported from the USA were suddenly so much more expensive.

It made no sense to me. For one thing, if Canada produces most of America's aluminum, why do we even buy beer cans from America? Why don't we make our own beer cans with our own aluminum?

I never did find out why, and I've not really thought about it since, until I came across an article today talking about this very issue. It's been nearly a year, and Canadian brewers are still complaining about the cost of American beer cans. And we are still not producing our own beer cans with our own aluminum.

Even now, it's "nearly impossible" to find certain kinds of beer can made here in Canada. "There's actually no Canadian source for a truly Canadian-made tall can". Canada exports aluminum to the US, where it gets manufactured into a "can sheet", and then exported back to Canada to be made into actual cans. Ridiculous! But why?

The reason, it seems, comes down to economic efficiency. It makes sense to smelt the aluminum in Canada, particularly in Quebec, where most of our aluminum is mined, because Quebec has very cheap hydro electricity, and smelting is a very electricity-dependent activity. However, it makes more economic sense for the US to produce the can sheets because America has a much larger market it can sell can sheet to. It apparently does not make economic sense for a Canadian company to produce can sheet.

Given the effects of the Trump tariffs, though, it surprises me that it is STILL makes no economic sense. You'd think there would now be an economic case for a Canadian company to produce cans locally, say in Quebec. The demand from breweries across the whole country would surely be sufficient to enable huge economies of scale (we drink a lot of beer!) Yes, there are transportation costs to factor in, and this is one big country. But it just surprises me that no-one has even tried.