Dear Cribs for Kids Partners,
I am writing to inform you of recent changes that were announced on August 7th, 2020, by the United States Trade Representative Office (USTR). As many of you are aware, there has been an ongoing US-China trade dispute which began in 2018 and has continued with no end in sight. I would like to stress that China DOES NOT pay these tariffs. They are a tax imposed on companies in the United States. Because of our low-profit margin and to assure the continued success of Cribs for Kids, we are forced to pass the cost of these tariffs on to our partners.
In order to highlight the complexity of these tariffs and to bring our new partners up to date, here is a brief history to add context to this situation:
- Our Cribette was part of the tariffs imposed on List 3 of Section 301 of the USTR Trade Action. Due to the imposition of these tariffs (10% in September 2018, 25% in May 2019) we had to raise the price of the Cribette to coincide with the imposed tariffs. Therefore, in September 2018, we were forced to raise the price of the Cribette from $49.99 to $59.99.
- On October 3, 2019, after a concerted effort on our part, the USTR granted an exclusion on the 25% tariff for all play yards. We immediately went back to our original price, $49.99, for the Cribette. Unfortunately, the exclusion was only granted until August 7, 2020.
- On August 7, 2020 the USTR announced the exclusion would be rescinded on all play yards coming into the United States from China. (The only place in the world that manufactures these units). At that time, the tariff rate was raised to 25% effective immediately.
Therefore, due to the increase in tariffs, Cribs for Kids is announcing a price increase on the Cribette effective September 8, 2020. The new price will be $59.99. All Cribette orders received on or before that date will be charged the current rate of $49.99. We understand that these tariffs are impacting all of us and pose an extra hardship during this global pandemic. We are sorry we have been forced to take this action.
Cribs for Kids has worked tirelessly with government agencies and both local and national politicians expressing the importance of keeping the exclusion so that we could continue to help as many families as possible. Unfortunately, our advocacy efforts were ignored.
We do want to assure you, as we have done in the past, we will continue our advocacy efforts to have this tariff rescinded and we will lower the price of the Cribette to $49.99 if these tariffs are dropped for any reason.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jbannon@cribsforkids.org.
Sincerely,
Judy Bannon
Executive Director/Founder
Below is the email received from the USTR regarding the exclusion for play yards.
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has completed, in accordance with USTR’s notice published on May 6, 2020 (85 FR 27011), an evaluation of the possible extension of certain exclusions from the $200 Billion Trade Action (List 3).
USTR has determined not to extend exclusion 20(ll)(80) (Bassinets, composed of polyester fabric with frames of steel tubing, each measuring 86 cm in length by 52 cm in width by 81 cm in height weighing not more than 11 kg, or 100 cm in length by 65 cm in width by 81 cm in height weighing 13 kg, with drop-side rail and wheels (described in statistical reporting number 9403.89.6003)).
Further information regarding exclusions from the $200 Billion Trade Action (List 3) is available on the USTR website at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/enforcement/section-301-investigations/section-301-china/200-billion-trade-action.
–The Office of the United States Trade Representative”
