Do not Tariff baby safety gear

Please Keep Babies Safe by Exempting Essential Baby Safety Gear from Tariffs

I’m writing to urge you to exempt essential baby safety gear — like car seats, strollers, playards, bassinets, swings, and highchairs — from tariffs. These are not luxuries; they’re lifesaving child safety tools that every family needs. For example, studies show that car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury for infants by as much as 71%, and every state requires that parents purchase a car seat before bringing their little one home from the hospital.

Right now, rising prices from tariffs are making it harder for families to afford safe, certified gear — pushing some toward cheap, dangerous alternatives. No parent should have to choose between paying rent and buying a safe car seat. America has taken big steps to put families at the center again, including by increasing the Child Tax Credit, creating the new Baby Bonus, and expanding tax credits for childcare, dependents and adoption. Exempting baby gear from tariffs would protect and build on these family-first policies.

Last year, 3.6 million babies were born in the United States. More than 50% of these births were to mothers under age 30, with younger families most stretched by rising costs. The average American family now spends over $18,000 in the first year of a baby’s life — the highest ever recorded — and many report borrowing or using credit cards to cover essentials.

We’re asking for your help to protect our tiniest Americans by:

• Advocating for tariff relief for baby safety gear in any trade deal with China. Since over 90% of these products are made there, this would help millions of American families save thousands of dollars.

• Demanding immediate relief from all existing tariffs on baby products. This includes tariffs under Section 301 and Section 232, which are compounding the costs of essential items like bassinets and cribs.

So many babies are also born into young families that are financially vulnerable, compounding the hardship they are currently feeling. Almost half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and roughly the same number are paid for by Medicaid. While policymakers debate the path forward, families are already paying the price as tariffs contributed to double digit increases in the cost of baby gear this year. Unless families receive relief from tariffs, families will continue to see even more painful increases in the cost of car seats, strollers, and playards.

I respectfully call on our elected leaders to put families first by working to exempt essential baby safety gear from tariffs—so that no parent is forced to choose between financial stability and their child’s safety.