With the Trump administration reaching what it calls a “phase one” trade agreement with China on Friday, Washington has suspended new tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on December 15.
The new tariffs would have affected products including a range of children’s books that were excluded from the tariffs that began September 1 and which cover all adult books printed in China, with the exception of Bibles and religious books. The suspension of the tariffs is good news for publishers of children’s picture books, coloring books, and drawing books—category 4903, according to the U.S. Trade Representative classification—that are printed in China,and which had escaped the tariffs imposed in September.
The September 1 tariffs placed on $300 billion worth of goods remain in place. President Trump has indicated in interviews that he is keeping those levies in place to help with the second phase of the trade negotiations with China.
“We applaud the Administration for crafting a trade deal with China, effectively reducing and/or suspending a number of tariffs on American books," said Maria Pallante, president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers. “We look forward to the removal of all tariffs on books—returning us to our nation’s longstanding policy of not imposing tariffs on educational, scientific, and cultural materials.”
