The head of a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that aims to prevent infant crib death argued this week that President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese products are interfering with its mission and risking infant deaths.
“[O]ur work — and the lives of innocent children — is being threatened by tariffs,” Judith Bannon, executive director of Cribs for Kids, wrote in a Monday op-ed for Florida Business Daily.
Sudden infant death syndrome is the unexplained death of a sleeping baby less than one year old. The exact cause is unknown, but the risks of it happening can be increased by the items in a baby’s crib and his or her sleeping position, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Bannon’s organization produces a small, portable crib called the “Cribette” meant to protect against sudden infant death syndrome. The nonprofit provides about 6,000 of the devices to state health departments, hospitals, and similar entities each year, most of whom give them away to parents.
The devices are not made anywhere in the U.S. and are only available from China. The tariffs have forced the organization to raise prices to just under $55, a $5 increase, resulting in fewer sales. Bannon says that the nonprofit cannot afford to sell the cribs for any less, but that the higher prices have discouraged some partners from paying for them.
“Unfortunately, this directly leads to higher death rates among low-income families,” Bannon wrote.
The U.S. last year slapped tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods imported from China, with the largest portion, $200 billion, getting a 10 percent add-on. All of the Cribs for Kids’ products are imported from China and subject to that 10 percent rate. Though the organization does not have to pay taxes, it cannot get out of paying those levies on the levies so it has raised the price of the cribs by the same amount, Bannon said.
Bannon told the Washington Examiner that she twice appealed to federal government to get the cribs exempted from the tariffs because they are safety devices but was turned down each time. She’s not sure why.
“It fell on deaf ears,” she said.
A letter Bannon received from U.S. Customs and Border Protection rejecting her request last year said that it “is the opinion of this office that the essential character to the ‘Cribette’ is imparted by (its) textile mesh fabric,” putting it in the category of items subject to the 10 percent tariffs. Exceptions are only allowed for items that are “specifically excluded,” it said, and the Cribette wasn’t.
“Many partners have been unable or refused to pay the cost difference, because they mistakenly believe that China pays for the tariffs — not us. When our partners can’t afford to purchase cribs, they cannot distribute them to families in their local areas, and we risk reversing the progress we’ve made on reducing the number of infant deaths,” Bannon said.
