American readers are worried books will get pricier thanks to tariffs

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have some of the internet’s most voracious readers worried: the price of books and access to them could be changed significantly.

President Donald Trump’s tariffs have some of the internet’s most voracious readers worried: the price of books and access to them could be changed significantly. 

Members of BookTok, TikTok’s passionate community of readers, have expressed dismay at the possibility of book prices increasing, as well as the news that some international booksellers were re-evaluating their policies on selling to the United States. 

“This has gotten so far beyond out of hand, and the book industry is a small industry in the greater world,” said TikTok creator Lia Reads, whose video on how tariffs will affect the book industry has been viewed more than 600,000 times.  

Over the past few days, dozens of others within the BookTok community have posted similar videos sounding the alarm over tariffs, with several people referencing a different creator’s November 2024 video in which she had suggested that Trump’s re-election would mean the return of $10 paperbacks. 

Print books and children’s picture books currently feature on a list of exempted products released by the White House on April 2 alongside Trump’s executive order, meaning that items such as Bibles printed on thin paper and baby board books, the majority of which are printed abroad, may not be affected.