As the due date for their baby approaches this mid-July, Sam Rutledge and his wife felt they had ample time to prepare by researching and purchasing necessary baby gear.
However, the recent tariff announcement by President Donald Trump in early April changed their plans significantly, prompting them to hasten their buying decisions.
In a whirlwind shopping spree, the couple acquired two strollers, a car seat, a nursery glider, a crib, and a high chair—each imported from overseas.
“These are all pretty expensive under normal conditions, but when it became clear tariffs were coming we decided to buy them in case they became prohibitively expensive,” stated Rutledge, a high school physics teacher.
Raising a child in the United States has never been a financial walk in the park, with the first year costing an average of $20,384 according to Baby Center, a well-known parenting website.
The impending tariffs, ranging from 10% for most countries to as high as 145% for China, will exacerbate the already steep costs for new parents.
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association estimates that roughly 90% of essential baby care items and their components—from bottles and diaper pails to strollers and car seats—are manufactured in Asia, with the majority sourced from China.
“Overseas manufacturing has been the norm in our industry for decades,” commented Lisa Trofe, the association’s executive director.
Historically, the situation was different.
When Munchkin Inc. was founded in California by CEO Steven Dunn in 1991, baby bottles were produced domestically with tools sourced from New Jersey.
Over the years, many of the manufacturers Dunn relied on shut down, and the costs associated with operating in the U.S. surged.
Currently, about 60% of Munchkin’s 500 items, which include products priced from $5 sippy cups to $254 Night Owl Strollers equipped with headlights, are manufactured in China.
Faced with the new tariffs, Dunn has ceased orders from China and put a hiring freeze in place at Munchkin’s headquarters in California, where 320 employees work.
He anticipates that Munchkin could run out of certain products within three months, expressing, “There is no possibility of being able to pass on those tariffs to customers in the form of price increases.”
Dunn had previously attempted to lessen the company’s reliance on Chinese manufacturing by shifting some operations to Vietnam and Mexico.
Despite spending a year engaging with American manufacturers to produce Munchkin’s innovative Flow Nipple Shield—a silicone item designed to help breastfeeding mothers check milk flow—Dunn found that most could not fulfill the complex production requirements; hence, it is currently made in Vietnam.
“There’s not enough tool makers and manufacturing expertise and automation and skilled labor in the U.S. to make the thousands of products the juvenile industry needs,” he explained.
Several baby product brands contacted by The Associated Press opted not to comment on the tariffs, including Graco, Chicco, Britax, Nuna, Dorel Juvenile, UppaBaby, Evenflo, and Bugaboo.
In response to the tariffs, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association requested a tariff exemption, highlighting that baby products are crucial for children’s well-being.
During his first term, Trump exempted a limited range of baby products like car seats and high chairs from tariffs; however, uncertainty looms over whether such exemptions will be implemented again.
Nurture&, a company known for its popular nursery glider and baby furniture, has committed to being transparent about the tariffs’ impact on their pricing.
They informed customers in a recent email that they had begun lowering prices on select items after the tariffs were announced and would maintain these reductions until April 30.
After this deadline, the company warned that it might not be able to absorb the full costs of import duties.
“These are large purchases, these are investments, and this is a very sensitive life stage,” asserted Nurture& Chief Merchant Jill Gruys, showcasing the importance of budget considerations for families.
Elizabeth Mahon, the owner of Three Littles, a baby store in Washington, is troubled by the possibility that tariffs could make essential products unaffordable for some families.
Mahon, who volunteers monthly to teach safe car seat buckling at the Department of Motor Vehicles, expressed concern that higher prices might deter families from acquiring car seats.
“No one is dying if they can’t buy a toy, but if they don’t have access to car seats, kids will get seriously injured,” she warned.
Her store has received notices indicating that many manufacturers plan to implement steep price hikes in May, making her feel fortunate that she could secure a storage facility to stock up on inventory before the tariffs were enacted.
However, she reflected that for many small businesses, the increased costs represent a potential “death sentence.”
At The Little Seedling baby shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owner Molly Ging usually places holiday orders around this time but is now inundated with price increase notices from various vendors.
Despite a surge in business as customers rush to beat the anticipated price hikes, she expressed concern for her 13 employees—all of whom are mothers bringing their children to work—and whether she could sustain sufficient inventory for future demands.
“Babies don’t stop being born because there’s tariffs,” Ging noted, highlighting the ongoing need for baby products amid economic uncertainty.
image source from：https://apnews.com/article/baby-products-tariffs-strollers-car-seats-96496556c8913f521021d0c165eca977
