Will there be a bookish tariff/countertariff standoff between the U.S. and Canada beginning April 2 or not? That is the question.
"We'll keep posting as we learn more," Cross & Crows Books, Vancouver, B.C., noted on Instagram. "As always, your independent bookstores count on your support. (The other day I had a conversation with a local author who didn't realize their book was being warehoused in the U.S. Even many authors don't know how this kind of tariff is likely to affect them. We will all be getting a crash course together if this goes through.)"
Bookmanager sent an e-mail to its Canadian clients warning them about the potential hazards of books being on the government's countertariff lists, the Globe & Mail reported, noting that company president Michael Neill "gamed out the mathematical possibilities of different players in the sector absorbing increased costs from countertariffs, finding none of them sustainable."
"I'm hoping that this hasn't been thought through," Neill, who also owns Mosaic Books in Kelowna, B.C., said. "There's been so much going on that maybe somebody didn't think about it for more than a minute."
One of the more public voices in the controversy has been Louise Penny, bestselling author of the Armand Gamache mystery series. She posted on social media earlier this month: "I can hardly believe I'm saying this, but given the ongoing threat of an unprovoked trade war against Canada by the U.S. president, I do not feel I can enter the United States. At least not until that economic sword, that could throw hundreds of thousands of Canadians (as well as Americans) into poverty, is removed completely.... Which means, for the first time in 20 years, not touring the USA. Please understand this decision is not meant to punish Americans. This is about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my fellow Canadians."
Instead of having the launch of her next book, The Black Wolf, at the Kennedy Center (an ongoing tragedy of its own) in Washington, D.C., the event will be held October 28 in Ottawa, at the National Arts Centre.
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Penny will do other Canadian events before ending her book tour at the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, a "remarkable place [that] was built in 1904 and sits right smack dab on the border between Québec [Stanstead] and Vermont [Derby Line]."
And therein lies another story.... As Penny explained, the Haskell "was built by both countries as a symbol of our strong bonds of friendship. It is the physical reflection of what we believe. That what happens politically is one thing, and transitory. What happens in our hearts is indestructible. I am hoping Americans will come to the Canadian events. You will be welcomed with open arms. As friends. As fellow villagers of Three Pines. Where goodness, and decency, exist."
Unfortunately, a couple of weeks after Penny made her announcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would begin to restrict Canadians' access to the Haskell Library due to what they called "a continued rise in illicit cross border activity." For 121 years, Canadians have had free access to the library using the front door without having to go through customs.
Stranger than fiction.
While Canadian officials and library representatives criticized the decision, "residents of both communities gathered outside the library to express their dismay," Vermont Public reported, adding that people were waving to their neighbors across the border, with Americans calling out, "We love you, Canada!" and Canadians responding, "We love you, too!"
Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone said, "We have too many reasons to cherish our relationship, and it's not one man that will change that."
Under the terms of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's new ruling, until October 1 non-library members attempting to enter the U.S. via the sidewalk next to the library will be redirected to the nearest port of entry, while library members will be allowed to continue use of the sidewalk with proof of membership. On October 1, all visitors from Canada wishing to use the front entrance will be required to present themselves at a port of entry to enter the library from the U.S.
Haskell board of directors president Sylvie Boudreau told Vermont Public that upgrading the back entrance to be wheelchair accessible will cost more than $100,000, and the library will also have to build a new parking lot and sidewalk. For now, however, she promised Canadian patrons the organization is committed to serving them as it always has: "Inside the library, it's business as usual."
"And then this happened...," Louise Penny posted on Facebook after learning about the Haskell fiasco, noting that the library "has stood as a beacon, a statement, a physical expression of the friendship between our countries. Today, the American government blocked Canadian access in yet another shameful, callow, petty move, by a shameful, callow, petty administration. People on both sides of the border took to the streets in protest. The tide of protests is rising.... we are the flood."
Haskell Library has launched a GoFundMe to help cover the expenses. The campaign has already raised more than C$160,000 (about US$110,000). Penny herself donated C$50,000 (about US$35,045)
"All that money in that short time, I've never seen something like that," Boudreau told CBC News, adding that the outpouring of support shows the library will continue to be a place of unification, "even if some are trying to divide us." Of Penny's donation, she noted: "She has at heart the library and also the literacy," adding that a reading room will be renamed in her honor