Canadian citizen and bookstore owner Patricia Massy started the petition below and it now has more than 5,770 signatures. Please add your own and contact federal candidates in your riding to urge them not to slap retaliatory tariffs on books!
Posted March 30th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
Dear Booklovers across Canada, we urgently need your help.
The Canadian government is set to impose a 25% retaliatory tariff on books entering Canada from the US (regardless of author origin) beginning April 2nd. This incredibly steep additional cost to retailers will cripple indie bookstores, as well as Canadian authors and publishers.
Books were not listed in the first round of tariffs, but they are now. We need to take action and let our leaders know about the dire impact this will have on the beloved book industry in Canada.
The Canadian tariff is intended to retaliate on the recent US tariffs, to cause enough hardship for the US so that they will back off. However, these tariffs will have dire consequences for the Canadian book industry.
Most books, by Canadian authors or otherwise, will also be subject to the new tariff because they are either warehoused or printed in the US by major publishers and distributors. Although most books sold by Canadian booksellers originate from the US, many books by Canadian authors are also warehoused in the US and therefore subject to the tariff.
We need your help – please fill out this survey. The form will ask you for the eight-digit codes for the tariffs you’re disputing:
- 4901.99.00 (this is the tariff number for books that aren’t pamphlets or encyclopedias)
- 4903.00.00 (and this is for childrens’ picture/coloring books
- 4902.90.00
- 4905.20.00
- 4901.91.00
- 4901.10.00
In addition to filling out the survey and signing this petition, please take a minute to write to your MP today!
Find and tell your MP they need to fight back and protect our independent bookstores! 🔗 https://click.e.change.org/f/a/BSzpoAMiKSH30YrxdEeKhA~~/AANj1RA~/EdC-yqMAmV6cyFs7EYL7DKsRQfJT02XfwxQxTK47zk0eIkeVZbJO9qPT-k3z4T2p36KkB5M5YdNfbfYHrzgh2ckCtfwxd_Bi-L9_H8EVtTL-_NjZVuSHu8dNMopVqgnN
Here’s a suggested message for your MP (feel free to use your own words:
“On April 2nd, Canada is implementing a 25% tariff on all books coming into Canada from the US. This cost inevitably gets passed on to the consumer, meaning independent bookstores will suffer massive financial losses because the cost of books will increase so dramatically. Many indie stores already run on razor thin margins and this additional price hike on goods will only cripple them, forcing them to close and paving the way for corporations and box stores who can weather the storm to take over.”
Since this news, the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association (CIBA) has been meeting daily with industry stakeholders to advocate and better understand the potential impact of proposed tariffs. CIBA has submitted an official statement to the Prime Minister Mark Carney, which you can view here.
We will keep you informed as we learn more – thank you for your support! Click on the link to the petition below.
Petition · Stop Tariffs on Books – Canada · Change.org
For a recent CBC interview featuring Canadian author Louise Penny on this subject, click on – https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6704670 .
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