As I wrote last week, US publishing has escaped the worst of the tariffs, but that doesn’t mean publishing is unaffected by the tariffs that remain. US publishers obtain paper and manufacturing materials from other countries, particularly Canada. However, paper from Canada and Mexico—if it is wholly grown, produced, or manufactured in those countries—is exempt from tariffs. For US publishers that produce puzzles and toys in China, they are subject to tariffs of 145 percent.
Don’t forget that other countries have placed retaliatory tariffs on US exports, which may include books. For now, Canada, Australia, and Singapore are not placing tariffs on books coming from the US. But the UK’s 10 percent tariff on all goods does apply to books.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
