Tariffs have been in the news a lot in the past few years, and this week saw them return, to the anger of the book industry. From July 1, the European Union is introducing a 3 euro tariff on all small packages sent into the union. Small items worth under 150 euros had previously been exempted from tariffs under the “de minimis” principle (which I guess basically equates to “too small to worry about”).
ALLi News Editor Dan Holloway
You will remember that previously, France had clamped down on free delivery in an effort to stop Amazon undercutting independent and smaller businesses. This is part of a similar strategy, but much wider in scope. It is aimed at the likes of Shein and Temu, who have used cheap shipping to, as EU businesses see it, undercut local commerce. The step to remove the de minimis exemption is portrayed as a bid to stop local high streets falling empty.
Books Caught in the Crossfire
These small packages, of course, include books. That will affect all of us who sell into Europe (making it even more expensive and difficult than it already is). Unsurprisingly, the book industry has called for an exemption for books, journals, magazines, and print media.
Commonwealth Prize Controversy Reaches Its Conclusion
We end by wrapping up a story that has been in the news a few times of late. And fittingly, as it is an item about a short story prize, it ends with an interesting twist. Just last week I mentioned that the Commonwealth Short Story Prize had been carrying out intensive scrutiny of its regional winners in relation to allegations of AI use, in the buildup to the big announcement of the overall winner.
And that overall winner was Jamir Nazir's “The Serpent in the Grove”—the story over which accusations had sparked the original controversy.
As quoted in the Guardian, the prize foundation's director Razmi Frook says, “When the machine's default voice is the metropolitan one, the writer who does not fit the expected mould is the first to fall under suspicion.” It is an important point. And while this win won't quiet critics (the opposite), it doesn't flinch from posing questions back to those critics.
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