President Trump’s tariffs are making it a lot more expensive to have kids, parents and baby gear makers say.
Sweeping levies imposed by Mr. Trump in April are hiking the prices of baby essentials, including car seats and strollers, amounting to a tax on parents, advocates for reducing costs for families say.
At the same time, the White House is trying to encourage Americans to have more children. Mr. Trump is even considering a $5,000 “baby bonus,” according to a New York Times report, to boost the U.S.’ declining birth rate.
New parents and couples that are expecting could soon face tariff-related cost increases of up to $1,000 a year on baby essentials, according to Natalie Gordon, the CEO of Babylist, a baby registry service.
Gordon noted that price increases are already in effect across a range of products, given manufacturers’ reliance on China to produce strollers, cribs, car seats and other required goods. Currently, an import duty of up to 145% applies to U.S. imports from China, where the vast majority of strollers sold in the U.S. are made.
Mr. Trump on Friday signaled that the rate could come down, writing in a post on his social media platform Truth Social that an “80% Tariff on China seems right!”
Calling for a reprieve
Gordon is among a group of advocates calling on the White House to exempt critical baby products from sky-high tariffs. In addition to levies on Chinese products, a baseline 10% tariff applies to all U.S. imports. Additional country-based duties — with the exception of China — are currently on hold for 90 days.
“Manufacturers are, on a day-to-day basis, dealing with the shock of tariffs on products and are very willing to invest in supply chains,” Gordon told CBS MoneyWatch. “They are looking at what it takes to onshore products, but it takes time and investment.”
Gordon added that she believes the tariffs amount to a “baby tax on every parent across the country.”
Trump says trade policies may mean children have fewer toys that cost moreCould a $5,000 “baby bonus” convince Americans to have more kids? Here’s what the data shows.
That’s why she said a reprieve is necessary. “We know the administration wants to support families to feel like they can have babies, and this is the easiest and quickest way they can do that,” she said.
Inventory sitting on U.S. store shelves already costs more than it did last month. For example, UPPAbaby, which makes car seats and strollers overseas, said in a statement posted on its website in an April that tariffs are making price increases “unavoidable.” Price hikes on some products went into effect May 5.
An UPPAbaby car seat, for example, already costs $150 more than it did last month, according to Elizabeth Mahon, who owns Three Littles, a children’s store in Washington, D.C. One of her most popular items, the UPPAbaby Vista stroller, now costs $1,199, up $300 from $899, she told CBS News correspondent Jo Ling Kent in May.
“There aren’t very many products that are made exclusively in the United States, and even products that are made in the United States rely on global manufacturing for production, or for their materials that they’re packing things in or shipping materials,” Mahon said.
Resale proves popular
The rising cost of parenthood has some parents turning to resale platforms, boosting demand for discounted open-box goods or overstock inventory.
Shraysi Tandon, founder and CEO of Kidsy, a re-commerce platform for baby and kids products, told CBS MoneyWatch that “tariffs are wreaking havoc on families that were already squeezed to begin with.”
Tandon said she’s witnessed a 25%-35% across-the-board hike in prices on baby equipment, including strollers, car seats, bouncers, carriers and other gear.
“Price hikes we thought would happen over the summer are already happening in real-time,” she said, adding that the increase in costs doesn’t jibe with the White House’s call for families to have more children.
“If anything, people will get sticker shock and not want to have more kids at a time when many families are already experiencing inflationary pressures at checkout,” she said.
Kidsy has seen a 70% spike in traffic over the past couple weeks, according to Tandon, as parents look for ways to save money.
“Resale and re-commerce is a strong signal to me that consumers are actively looking for discounted items, and ways in which they can save money on products that are essentials,” she said.
Mr. Trump this week said he’s considering a carveout for baby products, but that he’d prefer for tariffs to be “nice and simple.”
“I’m not looking to have so many exemptions that nobody knows what’s going on,” Mr. Trump said during the swearing-in ceremony for David Purdue as Ambassador to China.
In the meantime, expecting couples are taking a close look at their budgets and trying to find ways to trim costs.
“I feel like we’re trying to cut back a little bit on everything just because it’s not clear how long this is going to last,” expecting father Femi Taiwo told CBS News.
Did the conclave pick a front-runner to be new pope?
World awaits new pope after conclave’s vote
Trump touts UK trade deal, but U.S. companies fear they won’t survive China tariffs
