Canadian readers, booksellers and libraries are nervously awaiting word on whether the price of books will be caught up in the Canada-U.S. trade war.
Matthew MacDonald, chief executive officer of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library, told a Monday-night meeting of his library board that he's received some alarming news from a key supplier of his library's books.
"We got notification from Whitehots, which is our vendor for books, that books are included in the proposed April 2 round of countertariffs."
"This proposed tariff is on all U.S. books, and a substantial amount of our collections are U.S.-based," MacDonald said.
"With a decrease in the Canadian dollar and an increase in tariffs, our purchasing power is going to decrease.
"So we won't be able to purchase as many materials as a result," MacDonald said.
"It's not just the tariff, but the Canadian dollar. If it's not doing well, the American dollar also hurts us, because a lot of our software technology stuff is coming from the U.S.
"Our ILS [integrated library system] is based out of Nashville.
"And to put it in perspective, our software budget is $50,000 a year, and $46,000 of it is just from our ILS software."
Right now, Canadian books and other cultural products aren't subject to U.S. tariffs, but that could quickly change if Canada declares its own levy on imported book imports.
Book lovers are therefore awaiting an expected 4 p.m. Wednesday announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump has pledged to impose "reciprocal" tariffs Wednesday by increasing U.S. duties to match the tax rates other countries charge on American imports.
It's not yet clear what the latest levies could mean for Canada and whether Trump will end a temporary pause on economy-wide tariffs on the same day, but Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated Canada will respond with tariffs of its own.
A notice of intent to impose counter-tariffs on U.S. goods lists books as one possibility. The Department of Finance has said it is accepting industry input about the proposals until Wednesday.
In an email, a spokesman for the department said "all submissions received will be given careful consideration" but didn't provide details about when a decision would come down.
Booksellers big and small, libraries and publishers are advocating for books to be left off the list of American-made items subject to tariffs from the Canadian government, saying such a move would devastate the industry and restrict the open flow of information.
While many Canadian-owned publishers print their books domestically, the majority of books sold here are imported from the U.S., said Jack Illingworth, executive director of the Association of Canadian Publishers.
"A tariff will drive up either the cost (booksellers) charge their consumers or reduce their profit margin," Illingworth said.
The books industry has been lobbying the government for an exemption for weeks, but Illingworth said the finance department has stayed mum about its plans.
Meanwhile a joint letter to Carney from the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association and Indigo Inc. CEO Heather Reisman says the effects of these tariffs would be "devastating."
"At this time there is nowhere near the capacity in Canada to handle all of our printing and warehousing. This tariff threatens the survival of bookstores and the livelihoods of thousands of Canadians," the letter reads.
The Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) also called on the government to exempt books.
"A 25 per cent tariff on U.S.-manufactured materials would collectively cost Canadian libraries millions of dollars and represent at minimum a 10 per cent reduction to budgets that are already under pressure," CULC executive director Mary Chevreau wrote in a letter to the Department of Finance.
"These costs are ultimately borne by Canadians, either through increased taxes or reduced access."
- with files from The Canadian Press