Donald Trump’s tariffs have made it more expensive for new parents to buy essential baby items even as he’s pushing for more Americans to have children.
The cost of essential baby items, including car seats, cribs, strollers, sippy cups and high chairs, have already increase and will surge in the coming weeks, CEOs say.
Trump has imposed a 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. According to Babylist, a popular baby registry platform, 97% of strollers and 87% of car seats as well as several other essential baby gear are made in China.
With the tariffs in place, companies are paying higher import costs which they will pass to consumers by raising their prices. Several well-known baby gear companies like UPPAbaby, Munchkin and Frida, have already either increased prices or announced a price increase on their products in the coming days, according to Axios.
“These are essential items that every expecting parent needs, and they can’t be delayed,” Natalie Gordon, Babylist CEO and founder told the outlet. “It’s an added burden at one of the most vulnerable and financially stretched moments in life.”
The increasing cost of essential baby items comes as the Trump administration is urging more Americans to have children to remedy the country’s declining birth rate.
One such proposal involves giving a $5,000 “baby bonus” to every American mother after she gives birth. Asked about the proposal White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is “proudly implementing policies to uplift American families.”
But, CEOs of baby gears companies say the administration’s policies are doing the opposite.
“Birth rates are at a U.S. record low, and it’s not really a mystery as to why,” Munchkin CEO Steve Dunn told Axios. “Young families are buckling under the rising cost of food, housing and child care, and laying punitive tariffs on top of that burden doesn’t protect the American dream — it taxes it.”
