Tennessee specialty store wants us to believe the USA is eternally too expensive for comics printing
Knoxville's 6News interviewed a specialty store manager who's worried about the tariffs Donald Trump is issuing, and how it'll affect comics distribution:
Recently imposed tariffs are expected to affect many goods, including comic books. Nearly all American comic books are printed in Canada, which has been targeted by 25% tariffs from the Trump administration.Gee, if prices worry you that much, how come nobody working in careers like these asks that the USA finance and trade industries do something to lower costs? That's something that Trump may be trying to return USA industry to local borders for. Shortly after resuming office, he ordered the government to lower prices for USA citizens. From the way the owner of the specialty store describes the situation, you'd think he'd want distribution and printing to remain under Canadian management forever. Do such businesses really lack that much faith in USA finance that they're only willing to go for foreign distribution and printing? Do they really also believe that, under Joe Biden, things were inherently better? It's plain mind-boggling.
Comic book owners are worried that these tariffs will raise costs to bring their products across the border, leading to higher prices for customers. Grant Mitchell, one of the owners of Nirvana Comics in Knoxville, explained that comic book price margins are slim enough that a 25% adjustment is noticeable.
“Back in 2020, a lot of [publishers] switched to Canada printing due to Amazon buying a lot of the cardboard for their packaging. So, a lot of paper couldn’t be made out of that. It’s also cheaper. So if publishing companies were switch all the printing to America, we’d also see a price hike in that,” said Grant Mitchell, one of the owners of Nirvana Comics in Knoxville.
He noted that the comic book industry has seen a lot of changes in the past year, with one of the main distributors no longer being in the game.Again, I'm missing the part where somebody suggests changing to paperback/hardcover format for comicdom. Such topic discussions seem to be off-limits among retailers and other related businesses, regrettably. Do they really despise what formats regular bookstores sell that much, they're willing to go down with a sinking ship? All that aside, let's consider that, if we're talking about DC/Marvel, their artistic merit collapsed long ago, and to sell their stuff is a waste of resources.
“There’s been a lot of chaos already this year with comic publishing. So that one company did step in to absorb that cost. But our customers unfortunately could see a potential price increase or we’ll see it on our end and do our best to make sure not to impact our customers,” said Mitchell.
When asked, why he thought a company would be willing to absorb the cost of the tariff, he explained how close-knit the comic book community is and how they work to support each other.Maybe that kind of close-knitness has become the medium's undoing. Let's also consider that specialty stores aren't devoid of corruptness, recalling in the past decade, I may have read there were some who cheated people out of cards sold as part the Magic: The Gathering franchise, by removing certain ones from the card packs and putting them elsewhere, or something like that. And there appear to be those who were opposed to Comicsgate, regardless of whether its goal was to champion characters like Mary Jane Watson and such, and even some who refused to stock comics by indie creators whose politics they despised. If they don't avoid politically motivated blacklisting, do they really think everyone aware of that is going to want to support their businesses? Let's also not forget that, if the artistic quality of the comics they sell is poor, who in the right frame of mind will want to buy them? Requests for public backing can't be empty vessels.
He added, “It’s a very tight knit industry. When one person is in trouble, people step up. Several creators when they’ve had health insurance problems or health problems, a lot of people step up and GoFundMe and support them in that. So no, that’s they’re not surprising to me at all, that there are companies out there willing to absorb that to protect comic shops like this.”
He closed by asking people, whether they support the tariffs or not, to support small businesses that could be impacted by the tariffs.Well if that's the case, then haven't Canada's authorities done something embarrassing and damaging? Why then should anybody be surprised? There are worse things Canada's done though, and whether one values a business, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be let down by any incompetence that's led to these specific tariffs. Perhaps if Canada improved their conduct, then the tariffs could be lifted. And even then, USA business, comics included, would do well to demand better from their own industry and financial divisions. Failure to do so makes them look like a selfish joke.
Canada faces the 25% tariff on imports on the grounds that they have not done enough to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States. Trump previously announced that goods covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) were exempt from those tariffs.
Labels: msm propaganda, politics, sales
