Tariffs — What This Means for Irish Publishers
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump shocked global markets by announcing a slew of tariffs on imports from around the world, with goods from the UK subject to tariffs of 10%.
Industries and economies have been scrambling to unpick what Trump’s directive means, and the book trade is no exception, with booksellers and distributors anticipating “major issues to supply chains”.
Documents published by the White House after Wednesday’s announcement, however, suggest that printed books may be exempt from the US tariffs under the First Amendment. The tariff documents include an annex of exemptions (in full here) that includes “Printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter in single sheets, whether or not folded”, as well as “printed dictionaries and encyclopedias and serial installments thereof” and “printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, other than in single sheets”.
The above is an excerpt from recent Bookseller article “Books ‘exempt from US tariffs’ – but booksellers and distributors still anticipate ‘major supply chain issues’” by Matilda Battersby.
With respect to our situation, of upmost importance is the section of the main tariff order which stipulates that particular “goods as set forth in Annex II to this order, consistent with law, shall not be subject to the ad valorem rates of duty under this order”. The linked annex includes all key codes relating to books which, as spelled out in the main tariff order, are exempt.
