Publishers are holding their breath to see if President Trump’s decision to postpone the imposition of 25% tariffs on $300 billion worth of goods imported from China will become permanent.
The new tariffs, which included books, were proposed this spring. But after meeting with China President Xi at the G20 conference this weekend, Trump agreed to delay any new tariffs as part of an effort to restart trade talks. In his speech, Trump said new tariffs have been delayed “for the time being.”
The entire publishing industry had banded together to oppose the tariffs, and several spoke at hearings in late June to voice their concerns over what the imposition of tariffs would mean for the publishing supply chain and the cost of books. Rebuttal comments were due to be filed to the U.S. Trade Representative by midnight on July 2.
While things seem to be heading in the right direction in terms of the tariffs, analysts have their doubts about whether the new talks will lead to a longterm trade agreement between China and the U.S. Discussions between the two countries have endured a series of starts and stops, and 25% tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods imported from China that had been imposed earlier remain in place.
