[BRADENTON, FL] The Book Manufacturers’ Institute (BMI) strongly supports the Section 301 investigations led by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), including those examining excess capacity and forced labor practices impacting global supply chains and U.S. manufacturing sectors, including book production.

BMI believes these investigations are an important step toward ensuring that U.S. book manufacturers can compete on a level playing field. This is essential to maintaining a strong, resilient, and sustainable domestic book supply chain.

The North American book manufacturing industry is a vital part of the broader publishing ecosystem, with the infrastructure, workforce, and capacity already in place to support current and future demand. A strong domestic manufacturing base is critical not only for commercial publishing, but also for education, literacy, and overall supply chain resilience.

However, persistent non-market practices, including subsidization and artificially low pricing in global markets, have created significant distortions that challenge the long-term health of domestic manufacturing. Foreign competitors have rapidly expanded exports into the U.S. market, often at pricing levels that do not reflect true production costs.

“The goal is not to disrupt the publishing ecosystem, but to strengthen and secure it for the long term,” said Matt Baehr, Executive Director of BMI. “A healthy domestic manufacturing base ensures stability, reliability, and long-term sustainability for everyone involved in bringing books to readers, including printers, suppliers, publishers, and educators.”

BMI’s support for the Section 301 investigations is grounded in three key priorities:

Fair Competition: Ensuring global competitors operate under market-based conditions, free from state-backed subsidies and unfair trade practices.

Supply Chain Resilience: Maintaining a robust North American manufacturing base capable of reliably producing books and educational materials without overreliance on offshore capacity.

Sustainable Industry Growth: Supporting environmentally responsible production alongside long-term investment in domestic manufacturing infrastructure and workforce development.

These priorities align with BMI’s broader mission to serve as a leading voice for the book manufacturing industry and to advocate for policies that positively impact the entire publishing and printing community.

BMI looks forward to engaging with USTR throughout this process and providing industry data and perspective to support effective and balanced outcomes.