Strollers and other baby products will get more expensive -- and harder to find -- with tariffs

Sam Rutledge and his wife have a baby due in mid-July, so they thought they had a few more months to research and buy the gear they’ll need.

But President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in early April turned the couple’s slow walk into a sprint. In the past few weeks, they’ve bought two strollers, a car seat, a nursery glider, a crib and a high chair. All of them are made overseas.

“These are all pretty expensive under normal conditions, but when it became clear tariffs were coming we decided to buy them in case they became prohibitively expensive,” said Rutledge, who is a high school physics teacher.

Raising a child in America has never been cheap. In the first year alone, it costs an average of $20,384, according to Baby Center, a parenting website. But tariffs – ranging from 10% for imports from most countries to 145% for imports from China -- will make it many times more expensive for new parents.

An estimated 90% of the core baby care products and the parts that go into making baby paraphernalia – from bottles and diaper pails to strollers and car seats – are made in Asia, according to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, a U.S. trade group. The vast majority come from China.

“Overseas manufacturing has been the norm in our industry for decades,” said Lisa Trofe, the association's executive director.

It wasn’t always this way. When Munchkin Inc. CEO Steven Dunn founded his company in 1991, it made baby bottles in California with tooling from New Jersey. But over the years, the manufacturers he used shut down and the cost of doing business in the U.S. skyrocketed. Now, about 60% of Munchkin’s 500 products, from a $5 sippy cup to a $254 Night Owl Stroller with headlights, are made in China.

In response to the tariffs, Dunn halted orders from China and instituted a hiring freeze at Munchkin’s California headquarters, where 320 people are employed. Dunn expects Munchkin will run out of some products within three months.

“There is no possibility of being able to pass on those tariffs” to customers in the form of price increases, he said.

Dunn said he tried to reduce his dependence on China in recent years, shifting some manufacturing to Vietnam and Mexico. He also spent a year communicating with American manufacturers to see if one could make Munchkin’s new Flow Nipple Shield, which allows a breastfeeding mother to see if her milk is flowing. But most said they couldn’t make the complex silicone product, Dunn said. It’s now made in Vietnam.

“There’s not enough tool makers and manufacturing expertise and automation and skilled labor in the U.S. to make the thousands of products the juvenile industry needs,” Dunn said.

Multiple baby brands and companies contacted by The Associated Press didn’t respond or said they weren’t commenting on the tariffs, including Graco, Chicco, Britax, Nuna, Dorel Juvenile, UppaBaby, Evenflo and Bugaboo.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association said it asked the Trump administration for a tariff exemption, arguing that baby products are essential for children's well-being. Trump exempted some baby products, including car seats and high chairs, from import taxes during his first administration. But he hasn't said whether he would consider doing so again.

The Associated Press left a message seeking comment with the White House.

Nurture&, a company that makes a popular nursery glider and other baby furniture, said it’s trying to be transparent about the impact of tariffs.

In a recent email, the company told customers it started lowering prices on some items when the tariffs hit. The company, which was founded in 2020, said it would keep those lower prices in place until April 30, but after that it may not be able to absorb the full cost of the import duties.

“These are large purchases, these are investments, and this is a very sensitive life stage,” Nurture& Chief Merchant Jill Gruys said. “We want people to make the best decision for their budget and their family.”

Elizabeth Mahon, the owner of Three Littles, a baby store in Washington, said she’s worried the tariffs will make essential products too expensive for some families.

Mahon volunteers twice per month at the Department of Motor Vehicles, where she teaches people how to buckle their kids safely into car seats. Some families still must be persuaded to use car seats, she said. Mahon fears higher prices would be another deterrent.

“No one is dying if they can’t buy a toy, but if they don’t have access to car seats, kids will get seriously injured,” she said.

At her own store, Mahon is getting notices that some manufacturers plan to introduce steep price increases in May. She feels lucky she could rent a storage facility and build up inventory ahead of the tariffs. For many small businesses, she said, the extra costs are “a death sentence.”

At The Little Seedling baby shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owner Molly Ging said she would normally be putting in Christmas orders at this time of year. Instead, she’s sorting through price increase notices from many of the vendors she works with.

“It’s a lot to manage, and I just have no idea how it’s going to play out,” she said.

Business is brisk right now, with customers hoping to beat tariff-related price increases. But Ging worries about her 13 employees – all moms who bring their kids to work – and about whether she can maintain enough inventory to meet future demand.

“Babies don’t stop being born because there’s tariffs,” she said.

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, unpacks strollers and other inventory ordered by customers ahead of tariff-driven price increases at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, right, owner of the baby store Three Littles, and Monique Wallace embrace in reaction to Wallace's new stroller at the Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, installs a new car seat for customers who made the purchase ahead of tarriff-driven price increases in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, installs a new car seat for customers who made the purchase ahead of tarriff-driven price increases, at the Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, holds the door open for a customer who purchased a car seat ahead of tarriff-driven price increases, at the Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, rings up a customer at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Earrings manufactured in China are displayed for sale at the baby store Three Littles' Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Sales associate Charlotte Santoli unpacks strollers and other inventory ordered by customers ahead of tariff-driven price increases at the Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

A "Made in China" sticker is seen on inventory at the baby store Three Littles Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, right, owner of the baby store Three Littles, and Monique Wallace reacts to Wallace's new stroller at the Union Market location, in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, explains tariff-driven price increases to a caller searching for stroller recommendations at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, right, owner of the baby store Three Littles, and sales associate Charlotte Santoli search through inventory for "Made in China" stickers at the Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of the baby store Three Littles, poses for a photo at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Elizabeth Mahon, owner of baby store Three Littles, unpacks strollers and other inventory ordered by customers ahead of tariff-driven price increases at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

OTTAWA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 15, 2025--

Assent Inc. (Assent), the global leader in supply chain sustainability management, announces Request Manager, the industry’s first AI-native solution that addresses the critical pain point of how suppliers efficiently manage and respond to customer compliance and sustainability requests. Built on the market-leading Assent Sustainability Platform, Request Manager empowers suppliers to deliver accurate, high-quality regulatory data, declarations, and supporting documentation with greater speed and efficiency through a single, streamlined workflow to reduce management effort, lower compliance costs, and mitigate supply chain risk. The solution will launch for new Assent customers in January 2026.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251215595090/en/

Request Manager enables suppliers to manage all customer requests in one centralized location through AI-powered parsing, matching and re-use of verified data, as well as a proactive declaration sharing function that allows suppliers to anticipate customer requests.

“Request Manager represents a breakthrough in how suppliers and distributors can stay ahead of escalating compliance expectations. It transforms a historically fragmented process by harnessing the data already embedded in the Assent Sustainability Platform to deliver speed, time savings, and scale,” said Michael Southworth, CEO of Assent. “As we extend our offering to the broader supply chain, this marks a pivotal moment for Assent — a new standard for supplier engagement that enables proactive compliance and helps create a more connected and resilient network where organizations can respond with confidence to reduce risk.”

Regulatory frameworks are in constant flux and are becoming increasingly complex. At the same time, manufacturers and distributors face an unsustainable volume of customer requests. Additionally, supplier contracts now include greater obligations that can disqualify those who fall short. Request Manager is Assent’s answer to this industry-wide breaking point: a secure, centralized hub that unifies all compliance and sustainability requests into one streamlined workflow.

Assent research shows that 80% of businesses still rely on email and fragmented spreadsheets to manage the growing volume of compliance requests. The data also revealed manufacturers receive an average of 350 requests per year, while distributors often face thousands, each of which may contain hundreds of part-and-regulation line items that must be interpreted and completed. With each request taking roughly three hours to complete, many manufacturers spend more than 1,000 hours a year on manual compliance and sustainability request management processes.

Elisa Morelo, Senior Analyst at Verdantix, highlighted the need for a solution dedicated to suppliers, “The surge in the volume and complexity of compliance requests is putting intense pressure on suppliers to deliver high-quality data in a timely manner. We believe AI can play an extremely important role in this category in terms of helping suppliers manage the scale of requests and reducing supplier fatigue, as well as streamlining manual processes and improving data quality.”

With Request Manager, suppliers will be able to:

“My team depends on me to never miss a deadline or customer request, but with our previous process, the volume of requests we received each day was overwhelming,” said Jessica Adams, Quality Technician at Durex Industries. “Quick and accurate responses are essential to maintaining our commercial relationships. Since implementing Assent’s Request Manager solution, all the information my team and I need is in one place. I can respond faster and with greater confidence, and I’m able to focus on other critical parts of my job.”

Learn more about Request Manager here.

Organizations interested in early access to Request Manager can register here.

About Assent

Assent provides the leadingsupply chain sustainability management solutionand is on a mission to become the global platform of record for supply chain sustainability and compliance for manufacturers. Founded in 2010, Assent is the only company that unifies platform, people, and supplier intelligence to future-proof supply chains amid global disruption. Powered by AI, we enable faster, smarter compliance — from risk analysis to automated document review — while delivering unmatched speed, cost efficiency, and confidence. With a proprietary supplier engagement engine and deep regulatory expertise built into our platform and services, Assent helps customers navigate complexity, reduce risk, and accelerate growth.

Assent Launches AI-Native Solution to Address Severe Gaps in Compliance and Sustainability Response Management Processes