Strollers and other baby products will get more expensive -- and harder
to find -- with tariffs
[April 21, 2025] By
DEE-ANN DURBIN
Sam Rutledge and his wife have a baby due in mid-July, so they thought
they had a few more months to research and buy the gear they’ll need.
But President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in early April turned
the couple’s slow walk into a sprint. In the past few weeks, they’ve
bought two strollers, a car seat, a nursery glider, a crib and a high
chair. All of them are made 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,” said Rutledge, who is a high school
physics teacher.
Raising a child in America has never been cheap. In the first year
alone, it costs an average of $20,384, according to Baby Center, a
parenting website. But tariffs – ranging from 10% for imports from most
countries to 145% for imports from China -- will make it many times more
expensive for new parents.
An estimated 90% of the core baby care products and the parts that go
into making baby paraphernalia – from bottles and diaper pails to
strollers and car seats – are made in Asia, according to the Juvenile
Products Manufacturers Association, a U.S. trade group. The vast
majority come from China.
“Overseas manufacturing has been the norm in our industry for decades,”
said Lisa Trofe, the association's executive director.
It wasn’t always this way. When Munchkin Inc. CEO Steven Dunn founded
his company in 1991, it made baby bottles in California with tooling
from New Jersey. But over the years, the manufacturers he used shut down
and the cost of doing business in the U.S. skyrocketed. Now, about 60%
of Munchkin’s 500 products, from a $5 sippy cup to a $254 Night Owl
Stroller with headlights, are made in China.
In response to the tariffs, Dunn halted orders from China and instituted
a hiring freeze at Munchkin’s California headquarters, where 320 people
are employed. Dunn expects Munchkin will run out of some products within
three months.
“There is no possibility of being able to pass on those tariffs” to
customers in the form of price increases, he said.
Dunn said he tried to reduce his dependence on China in recent years,
shifting some manufacturing to Vietnam and Mexico. He also spent a year
communicating with American manufacturers to see if one could make
Munchkin’s new Flow Nipple Shield, which allows a breastfeeding mother
to see if her milk is flowing. But most said they couldn’t make the
complex silicone product, Dunn said. It’s now 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,” Dunn said.
Multiple baby brands and companies contacted by The Associated Press
didn’t respond or said they weren’t commenting on the tariffs, including
Graco, Chicco, Britax, Nuna, Dorel Juvenile, UppaBaby, Evenflo and
Bugaboo.
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Elizabeth Mahon, owner of baby store Three Littles, unpacks
strollers and other inventory ordered by customers ahead of
tariff-driven price increases at her Union Market location in
Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)
 The Juvenile Products Manufacturers
Association said it asked the Trump administration for a tariff
exemption, arguing that baby products are essential for children's
well-being. Trump exempted some baby products, including car seats
and high chairs, from import taxes during his first administration.
But he hasn't said whether he would consider doing so again.
The Associated Press left a message seeking comment with the White
House.
Nurture&, a company that makes a popular nursery glider and other
baby furniture, said it’s trying to be transparent about the impact
of tariffs.
In a recent email, the company told customers it started lowering
prices on some items when the tariffs hit. The company, which was
founded in 2020, said it would keep those lower prices in place
until April 30, but after that it may not be able to absorb the full
cost of the import duties.
“These are large purchases, these are investments, and this is a
very sensitive life stage,” Nurture& Chief Merchant Jill Gruys said.
“We want people to make the best decision for their budget and their
family.”
Elizabeth Mahon, the owner of Three Littles, a baby store in
Washington, said she’s worried the tariffs will make essential
products too expensive for some families.
Mahon volunteers twice per month at the Department of Motor
Vehicles, where she teaches people how to buckle their kids safely
into car seats. Some families still must be persuaded to use car
seats, she said. Mahon fears higher prices would be another
deterrent.
“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 said.
At her own store, Mahon is getting notices that some manufacturers
plan to introduce steep price increases in May. She feels lucky she
could rent a storage facility and build up inventory ahead of the
tariffs. For many small businesses, she said, the extra costs are “a
death sentence.”
At The Little Seedling baby shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owner Molly
Ging said she would normally be putting in Christmas orders at this
time of year. Instead, she’s sorting through price increase notices
from many of the vendors she works with.
“It’s a lot to manage, and I just have no idea how it’s going to
play out,” she said.
Business is brisk right now, with customers hoping to beat
tariff-related price increases. But Ging worries about her 13
employees – all moms who bring their kids to work – and about
whether she can maintain enough inventory to meet future demand.
“Babies don’t stop being born because there’s tariffs,” she said.
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