Edmonton bookstores worried voicing concerns about impact of tariffs

A hardcover book costs about $35 at Edmonton’s Audrey’s Bookstore. But the owner tells CityNews the price could rise to $44 if potential retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. take effect on Wednesday.

“If you are looking at 25 per cent increase on the cost of books, it’s going to be 25 per cent increase on the selling price of the book,” said Steve Budnarchuk, a co-owner of Audrey’s Bookstore.

Budnarchuk says more than half of the books at Audrey’s are imported from the United States, meaning if the trade war continues, it could have a major long-term impact on local businesses like his.

“Even if you’re choosing to try to buy more Canadian books, there’s still going to be an impact potentially on Canadian books coming across the border from the same publishers because so many books are stocked by four or five major U.S. sources that are really our books and that’s a concern,” Budnarchuk explained.

Starting Wednesday, if U.S. President Donald Trump moves forward with his plans for tariffs, the federal government plans to hit back with a 25 per cent counter-tariff on books imported from the U.S.

“It’s a concern for all books really, because if you don’t like California asparagus, you can buy Mexican, but with books if you want the latest New York Times best seller by an American author, you really can’t substitute,” said Budnarchuk.

Brandi Morpurgo, the owner of Daisy Chain Book Co., is afraid of what the tariffs will bring.

“It’s unexpected. We didn’t see this coming,” said Morpurgo. “Running any sort of small business is risky. It’s hard and we do it so that people that we serve can have something awesome at a price that’s good and healthy for them.”

Morpurgo says the trade war will not only impact prices but will also make it harder for small businesses like hers to survive.

“Whether it’s we can’t know if we’re gonna get that book or that book is gonna take a lot longer time to come in. All those uncertainties add to the cost because if they can’t get from us, they could go somewhere else. That’s also a big risk,” Morpurgo explained.

Edmonton Public Library is also raising the alarm over the proposed tariffs.

“The proposed tariffs on US-manufactured books, newspapers, magazines, DVDs and CD will have a profoundly negative impact on all public libraries in Canada, including the Edmonton Public Library. Our budget is under pressure from many factors including inflation, the high costs of ebooks and other digital content, and a growing population,” read a statement from Edmonton Public Library to CityNews.

“While we prioritize Canadian content and authors, the majority of books and related items we purchase are published by US printers and would be subject to the proposed counter-tariffs. The proposed tariffs will reduce the number of books, magazines, etc. We can purchase by at least 10 per cent, reducing our ability to provide knowledge, information, and entertainment to the Canadians we serve.”