What Should Libraries Do in the Face of Trump’s Tariffs?

On April 2, President Donald Trump unveiled a sweeping tariff policy: a 10 percent baseline duty on imports from nearly all US trading partners, with steeper “reciprocal” hikes for many countries to be implemented a week later. By April 9, the picture had already changed. Dozens of countries received a 90-day pause on the additional increases, but not China, whose tariffs jumped immediately. The 10 percent baseline remained in place, as did 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico announced in February.

Weeks later, the global trade landscape remains chaotic, roiling markets, plunging businesses and consumers into uncertainty, and feeding fears of a global economic slowdown. For libraries managing international acquisitions, that chaos is closing in.

The Ripple Effect on Libraries

At first glance, libraries might appear to be unaffected by Trump’s tariffs. The official list of exempt items released by the White House 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,” likely thanks to First Amendment protections supporting the free exchange of information

But the reassurance this offers libraries is limited. For libraries that depend on international vendors to supply books, serials, and media, the ripple effects of Trump’s tariffs could include disrupted shipping routes, rising logistics costs, customs slowdowns, and a growing pile of administrative red tape.

According to Publishers Weekly, domestic publishers, which do a large amount of printing in China, may also face higher costs. Given that printing in China currently can be 40 to 50 percent cheaper than in North America, significant tariffs could potentially lead to cost increases of a similar magnitude for publishers. Extra expenses, from printing and packaging to warehousing and transport, are likely to eventually hit library budgets.

In the aftermath of the tariff announcement, some international shipping providers even paused sea freight to the US, forcing book suppliers to scramble for alternate routes. This may also put libraries in a tough spot: either pay a steep premium for air shipping through carriers like DHL or roll the dice on slower, more unpredictable Surface Air Lifted (SAL) parcels.

For academic libraries, especially those building world language collections or supporting area studies, this isn’t just a shipping snafu. It’s an early warning sign of deeper disruptions. A few librarians focusing on East Asian studies have already reported a vendor notice flagging major changes: with ocean shipping off the table, the remaining options are slower postal routes or expedited services with a significant price tag. The message is clear: if you want reliability in this volatile moment, it’s going to cost you.

So what do we do now?

Staying Nimble in Uncertain Times

Just as Clarivate’s recently announced phase-out of perpetual access made libraries re-evaluate vendor relationships and collection philosophies, Trump’s tariff spike requires that we examine how we operate, where we’re vulnerable, and how we can become more adaptable in a world where the rules keep changing.

This isn’t just about shipping delays or vendor contracts. It’s about mindset. In a time of global volatility, being nimble requires both agility and preparedness. It means building the capacity to pivot quickly and to plan ahead. We need to ask:

• Who on our teams understands the complexities of the international logistics pipeline?
• Do our acquisition workflows have the elasticity to absorb supply chain disruptions or geopolitical shocks?
• Are we investing in staff development: equipping colleagues with the skills to navigate trade compliance, budget fluctuations, and strategic communication?

Preparedness also means embedding resilience into our daily operations. To ensure that we can handle disruptions effectively, we need to take a proactive approach. This should include:

• Strengthening communication with vendors.
  • Proactively reach out to foreign vendors, exchange partners, and freight-forwarders to clarify how, or if, they’re being impacted by current disruptions.
  • Ask vendors if they foresee increased costs, delays, or changes in shipping methods, and negotiate alternative options early.
  • Establish or reaffirm emergency communication channels to flag shipment or customs issues quickly.
• Maintaining a tracker shared across library units to document late or redirected shipments, rising customs or shipping fees, and relevant updates from vendors.
• Reassessing collection strategies and budget allocations to adapt to immediate challenges.
  • Consolidate shipments into larger, more cost-effective orders.
  • Adapt acquisition models and develop contingency plans to address rising costs, delayed shipments, or rerouted high-priority acquisitions.
  • Adjust budgets to account for unforeseen shipping or customs fees.
  • Providing transparency to stakeholders: Keep faculty and students updated on how tariffs and trade policies may affect access to global scholarship and materials.

Charting a Path Forward

If staying nimble is about building internal resilience, charting a path forward is about shaping what comes next.

This moment offers libraries a chance to reassess and reimagine long-held practices. The shifting trade environment may feel like a threat, but it also underscores the value of strategic coordination, community alliances, and smarter resource-sharing. Libraries should consider several strategies:

• Coordinating purchases with peer institutions.
  • Share shipping costs for international orders with consortia or peer institutions (e.g., joint orders to one port of entry).
  • Collaborate on collection development to reduce redundancy and provide shared access to hard-to-find resources.
• Investing in open infrastructures.
  • Invest in open access platforms to complement international vendors and diversify supply sources.
  • Support community-driven initiatives that streamline international collaboration and access to resources.
• Advocating for library needs in international policy.
  • Pursue international collaboration policies that reduce shipping costs and improve access to global resources.
  • Promote library priorities in global trade and education policy discussions to ensure equitable access to international resources.

Conclusion

Above all, this is a moment in which libraries must lead with intention. We don’t yet know how these tariffs will play out. Vendors are still adjusting, and retaliation measures are evolving. But waiting for clarity is not a strategy. Libraries have always been engines of access, preservation, and knowledge exchange across borders, languages, and formats. Maintaining that role today requires more than mission statements. It demands addressing the tariffs’ ripple effects, staying nimble in our operations, and charting a thoughtful path forward.

The road ahead may be uncertain. But by working together and staying clear on our values, we can navigate these challenges with clarity and purpose.