Jacob Shapiro
At the end of the previous post, I mentioned at this year’s ComicsPro Industry Summit about the threat of tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to Canada and China (and Mexico) to the comics industry. OK…the tariffs are here now. At the time of writing, the United States will impose a 25% tax on goods imported from Canada and Mexico and tax on goods imported from China.
The American comics industry from Marvel and DC to small independent publishers depends on Canada and China. They are perhaps the two most important countries for printing American comics and graphic novels. Even unprinted books in Canada are still using Canadian paper.
At the annual Mocca Arts Festival of the Illustrators’ Society held earlier this month in New York City, I talked with publishers and artists about how tariffs affect them. Publishers say it has impacted their profit and loss reports; for some, Canada and China are still the most cost-effective choices for printing even with taxes, while others are companies from Chinese printers to Korean or Thai companies. Printers are increasing production in these countries as people expect increased operations due to Chinese tariffs.
Aspen and Jacob from Fantom Comics at Mocca Arts Fest in New York City
In theory, Trump hopes to push manufacturing back to the United States, but domestic printer and paper companies have been unable to produce American comic books after decades of publishers abroad. It’s not only about cost; these overseas printers have developed the knowledge and technology to print books in a way that our printers cannot match at scale. If Trump really wants American comics to be printed in the United States, then we have to develop a year-long infrastructure plan to build enough printing facilities… presumably through federal funding? I don’t know if our economy can bear the negative impact of tariffs.
Americans read a lot of comics from Canadian publishers – Montreal’s Drawn & Exeartherly publishes everything Momi arrive Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. Some publishers north of the border have already worked with our warehouses to avoid expensive international shipping to the larger U.S. comics market and are now feeling pressure to move the entire business to the U.S. and rethink the entire business model if they want to make ends meet. Most of these Canadians may rather stay in their home country if they can help.
Maybe Trump’s idea is that the raffle and quarter should suffer because they are Canadians, so the great American Fantagraphics can take over the literary graphic novel market…but as a retailer, I would rather be able to sell comics from all over the world. If you recently saw the size of the comic/Webtoon section in Barnes & Noble compared to the American comics section, then you know that our readers in 2025 are more than American comics.
One of the most interesting subpictures of the Independent Comics Festival in the past few years is the influx of bold, subversive comics from artists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China and Chinese diaspora. The Canadian-American publisher Paradise System, dedicated to translating independent comics, is launching some of the most innovative comics I have read over the years. We also see experimental Chinese works published by other great independent journalists such as Glacier Bay Books (Canadian American) and Burgihan Press.
Australia – Chinese dissident artist Badiucao sat in a discussion group in Mocca’s discussion group this month with Cuban-American political cartoonist Edel Rodriguez, known as the “Exile”. Every Publisher weeklyBadiucao tells the crowd
“As a Chinese political artist, we once looked up to American democracy, a path that shines for China… But it’s a huge disappointment to see what’s going on in the United States. It’s really a special moment in the United States, from a Chinese perspective, from a disagreement perspective, to tell Americans that this period of time tells you that you really need to defend your democracy in this era.”
Chinese artists participating in our comic performances are at risk of violating Chinese laws in their political work. As Trump’s trade war escalates tensions between the two countries, some fear that XI can begin to conduct more of these censorship laws on artists heading to the United States.
People who hear from a country with an authoritative government say that they see the same pattern here, which is a surreal one. Donald Trump’s weaponization of cultural war issues and a new wave of American media throughout will surely have an impact on comic publication. Fingers crossed, we didn’t get another comic code permission.
In Washington, DC, all cities run a comic shop to run a comic shop, 2025 has provided me with an interesting 2025 to say the least. A large portion of my client base works in the U.S. government or organizations/businesses that rely on federal contracts, so if Trump and Elon Musk continue to tear down government departments, my clients will lose their jobs. It made me worry about my business; some regulars have canceled their subscriptions due to layoffs.
PW Last week, an article about how bookstores in Washington, D.C. experienced government cuts. Kramers, a well-known bookstore/cafe, is a few blocks from my store and he said they have seen customer traffic and sales drop since the beginning of the year. Fortunately, the first quarter of 2025 was more successful in Fantasy Comics than the three months in 2024.
Most importantly, since the District of Columbia is not a state, it must be granted the Congress’ annual city budget – so, of course, Donald Trump asked DC to reduce its budget by $1.1 billion. The budget does not rely on federal funds and has been approved by Congress this year. Cutting more than a billion dollars will undermine its ability to provide basic services, public safety and keep schools open. Washington, D.C. is not only a collection of government buildings and museums; it is a city of 700,000 people. If these cuts occur, small businesses like me in the entire region will be forced to close.
I think that despite the fear of DC at the moment, Fantom’s success is due to two factors. First of all, so far, there are a lot of comics and hits like this this year Absolutely Batman and The person she is interested in is not a man at all Let readers walk through our door. Secondly, we place great emphasis on the programming of events, art seminars, book clubs and game competitions held in Fantom almost every day. In times of despair, communities and face-to-face connections are more important than ever, and it is something that physical small businesses can create something that Amazon cannot replicate. But we only have a few months in Trump’s second semester…time will tell if the client continues to come in.
Ironically, the streets of Fantom Comics are a new Chinese/UK bookstore that opened nearby last year, Jifeng Books, a shop from Shanghai that closed in 2018 when city officials canceled their activities and refused to crack down on liberal political discussions, a popular forum for discourse on political and philosophical discourse. JF Books’ new DC location runs a full event programming schedule like my store, but operates as a nonprofit and raises funds through monthly membership donations from its clients. If the situation is going south this year, maybe I should consider fantasy.
Jacob Shapiro is co-owner and co-manager Fantasy comics in Washington, DC. He previously worked as sales and marketing managers at Nobrow/Flying Eye Books and Penzler Publisher/Mysterious Bookstore.
