Trump Tariff Taxes Book World Bigly

Trump Tariff Taxes Book World Bigly

 

Tariffs were officially imposed on goods and products coming from China, Mexico, and Canada, threatening to disturb the world economy, international relations, and the ability to buy, sell, and produce books. Then, within 24 hours he gave a 30-day reprieve to Mexico and Canada.

Here’s what the Trump Tariff Tax could look like for the book world: 

Books: 

Books that are printed overseas, such as coffee-table books, illustrated books such as cookbooks, art books, children’s books or graphic novels will be taxed. Comic books, in particular, could be hit quite hard. 

Printing:

Many US-based printers import raw materials and finished products from overseas. The cost of printing in the U.S. could rise.  

Foreign Language Books:

The U.S. is a melting pot. Books published in foreign languages from other countries will be taxed upon their entry here. 

Canadian Authors/Publishers

Their books will cost the U.S consumer more unless the Canadians lower the cost of their books. 

Book-Related Toys

Many plush dolls, board games, or puzzles connected to or based on a book will be taxed bigly. 

Discretionary Consumer Buys

Tariffs are a tax on consumers. Think inflation. If people have less money to spend on books, less money will in fact be spent on books.  

All of this tariff talk by President Trump -- and now action -- is putting other nations on alert. Either they will negotiate with the U.S on fairer trade deals that help Americans or they will try to fight these taxes by issuing tariffs of their own, creating ugly, bruising trade wars that at a minimum will lead to higher prices, possibly hob loses, and maybe even export/import bans that hurt everyone.  

I’m not an economist but when politics and businesses clash, and the book industry gets hurt by it -- not to mention consumers -- it’s easy to want to stand up and oppose this lunacy. 

Though Trump won his second election to the White House with a feeling he was given a mandate on issues like immigration, DEI, inflation, and other matters, he’s making a big bet that America will win the tariff war. But there will be pain before any of that ever happens- if it does. Financial aftershocks could destabilize the world economy and we could alienate both our allies and biggest trading partners - Mexico and Canada - and risk a trade war with China, who makes practically everything that we need to function, from pharmaceutical drugs to technology equipment.  

Could new Trump tax cuts offset increased costs to Americans and businesses?  Possibly. A lot is not yet clear. 

But what is clear is that authors, publishers, bookstores, libraries, and anyone in the book ecosystem will soon feel some pain. 

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Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum