With the U.S. tariffs imposed on Canada and Canada’s retaliatory tariffs in effect, the Canadian publishing industry is scrambling to fight back. As roughly $3.6 billion worth of goods went to and from the border every day in 2023, the U.S. market has a significant role in maintaining the Canadian publishing sector and the tariffs could be disastrous for Canadian book businesses, publishers, libraries and readers alike. But how are they planning to address the potential repercussions?

On March 4, 2025, U.S. tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian goods and 10 per cent on energy and potash exports from Canada to the U.S. came into effect. In early March, Canadian publishers were hopeful that books would be exempt from U.S. tariffs. As of right now, books are not subject to the tariffs, but they could be tariffed in the future.

Boni Wagner-Stafford, author and co-founder of Ingenium Books, says they don’t know what the full impact is going to be, with many distributors halting their regular operations to figure out what the tariffs mean for publishing.  

“The publishing industry in North America has always been integrated in a big way between the U.S. and Canada,” she says. “We’re elbows up and we’re proud, but we really are dwarfed by the size of the American economy.”

Canadian booksellers export between $40 and $50 million worth of books to the U.S. each year, according to Don Gorman, the publisher of Rocky Mountain Books. A 2018 industry profile identified 245 English-language Canadian-owned publishers operating in Canada at the time with a combined economic impact estimated at nearly $500 million.

But it seems the current primary concern of publishers, book sellers and buyers are not the U.S. imposed tariffs—it’s Canada’s response to them that could have a catastrophic effect on the industry.

James Saunders, President of the Ontario Book Publishers Organization (OBPO), says they’re concerned about pivoting as an organization that operates on both sides of the border. Saunders is also the co-owner of Saunders Book Company, Canada’s largest exclusive distributor of print and digital books to schools and public libraries. 

 “[The counter tariffs] are a bit of a concern for us because books, cultural properties and publications are not usually tariffed,” says Saunders. “We are already seeing customers withholding purchases and pulling back, including libraries and schools.”

In late March, the Canadian government introduced a 25 per cent counter tariff on $125-billion worth of goods imported from the U.S.—and books are on the list.

The Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) recently expressed concerns over the proposal. Executive director Mary Chevreau said the tariffs could lead to diminished library collections and have the potential to compromise the purchasing power of public libraries across Canada.

Laura Carter, the Executive Director of the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association, and Heather Reisman, Founder and CEO of Indigo Inc., wrote a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on March 20 in response to the proposition and urged him to exempt books from tariffs immediately. They cited that the tariffs would have devastating effects on book businesses, including economic harm threatening the survival of Canadian bookstores, cultural impoverishment and a rising cost of books that would lead to an affordability crisis for many readers.

But despite opposition from numerous industry professionals, Canada went ahead with the proposed action on April 2, 2025. The industry relief for books being omitted on the U.S. imposed tariffs list was short lived.

“As the prices continue to go up, at what point are we going to be forced to increase the retail prices of our books?” says Wagner-Stafford. “Are readers' budgets going to be spent on books or groceries? If everything is going up, are people going to have to stop buying books?”

From agencies to libraries, the people who may be hit the hardest in the industry are local bookstore owners, who are already facing competition from large booksellers.

Sueneek Nooristani, owner of London-based romance pop-up bookstore, Heartstrings & Pages, is worried about the tariffs effect on her small book business. She says the publishers she deals with are trying to fight the 25 per cent tariffs, but that it’s a waiting game at the end of the day.

“As somebody who is just starting out, these tariffs would make it a lot more difficult for me to be able to sustain my business any further,” says Nooristani. “If the prices go up, that would go on the consumer and as a smaller store, I wouldn’t have as many people coming to me. I’ll take a huge hit for that.”

Although there are many obstacles and uncertainties looking forward, the publishing industry appears to be holding strong.

“If we need to adjust, we’ll adjust,” says Wagner-Stafford. “People are not going to stop reading and buying books because it's an integral part of who we are, how we learn about the world and how we make decisions. So steady as she goes.”