As parents across the nation begin to send their kids back to school, Americans are facing much higher prices for everyday school supplies than they have in years past.<\/p>\n
Experts say President Donald Trump\u2019s elaborate regime of tariffs on imported products from much of the world are keeping those prices high.<\/p>\n
\u201cA good chunk of the school supplies \u2014 all the paper items, pens, glue sticks, computers \u2014 tend to be imported,\u201d Tibor Besedes, an economics professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told the American Independent. \u201cJust about everything will be more expensive than it was before the tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tariffs Trump instituted on what he called \u201cLiberation Day\u201d in April 2025, which targeted various countries<\/a> and ranged from 10% to as high as 145% for some Chinese products<\/a>, were struck down by the Supreme Court in February. The Trump administration, however, quickly implemented new tariffs.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s original tariffs had been instituted under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. With that route no longer available, he announced new import taxes of 10% on most countries, with the exception of certain specified goods as well as products from Canada and Mexico compliant with a 2020 free trade agreement, under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974<\/a>. But Trump\u2019s powers under the 1974 law only allowed him to put those new tariffs into place for up to 150 days, and they expired at the end of July.<\/p>\n Just ahead of the expiration of the Section 122 tariffs, the administration announced a fresh round of import taxes<\/a> of 10%-12.5% on products from 59 countries and the European Union under Section 301 of the Trade Act, which covers countries that engage in forced labor. A coalition of 25 U.S. states is now suing<\/a> the Trump administration over these new tariffs, demanding they be canceled and refunded. The new tariffs, according to the lawsuit, affect more than 99% of imports to the U.S.<\/p>\n Besedes said it\u2019s clear that after more than a year of tariffs, they\u2019re keeping prices high.<\/p>\n \u201cOne way to think about what has happened in the last couple years, inflation has come down a little bit, but if those prices haven\u2019t come down, it\u2019s because of the tariffs,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause tariffs have been put into place and essentially kept prices higher than they otherwise would have been.\u201d<\/p>\n On some items, prices increased before tariffs were implemented but remained elevated after. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a>, for example, the price of educational books and supplies jumped 9% year over year between May 2024 and May 2025 and have remained high.<\/p>\n While the federal government doesn\u2019t closely track the prices of specific school-related items, data compiled by private organizations paints an even starker picture. Groundwork Collaborative, an economic policy think tank, published research<\/a> in July showing that everyday back-to-school items are costing parents 8% more in 2026 than they did in 2025, or an average of an additional $175 per family. That\u2019s a time frame entirely within Trump\u2019s tariffs regime.<\/p>\n Groundwork\u2019s data shows lunchboxes cost, on average, nearly $19 this year, a more than 26% increase over the $14.91 average last year. Notebooks, according to the think tank, are running parents $5 these days, a significant increase over the $4 average price Groundwork recorded in 2025.<\/p>\n