RELEASE: On First Day Back to School, Rep. Friedman, Local Parents, and Educators Rally Against Tariff-Driven Back-to-School Price Hikes
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August 13, 2025
Friedman highlights bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025 to give Congress power to end harmful tariffs
Above: Friedman in front of school administrators, educators, and parents.
BURBANK, CA – Today, August 13, 2025, on the first day of school at Bret Harte Elementary, U.S. Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30) joined parents, educators, and school leaders to call out the impact of Trump’s tariffs on back-to-school costs and announce steps she’s taking to fight back.
Back-to-school price hikes:
- Tariff rates on typical back-to-school items have more than tripled in the last year — from 5% to 18%.
- In just May and June of this year, these higher tariffs resulted in an estimated $73 million tax increase on back-to-school items.
- Trump recently announced a 100% tariff on computer chips which will increase costs further for parents looking to purchase laptops for children.
- Trump's currently paused 145% tariff on China could cause computer prices to skyrocket. Any laptop, like many Chromebooks popular for schools and students, built in China could more than double in cost.
- Total spending on K-12 spending is $39.4 billion in 2025 compared to $38.8 billion in 2024.
- The Century Foundation estimates that a typical assortment of first-day school supplies will cost an average 7.3% more this back-to school season — nearly threes times headline inflation over the past year.
- The Yale Budget Lab estimates tariffs will add $2,400 a year in costs for the average American family.
To lower costs and support students, Friedman announced:
- She is helping lead H.R. 2665, the bipartisan Trade Review Act of 2025, to give Congress the power to end tariffs imposed by the President.
- She is co-leading the Preparing for Our Future Act, which creates a national grant program to provide up to $8,000 a year for students training to become school psychologists, with a requirement they serve in high-need schools after graduation.
“In August, the only thing parents should have to worry about is when to pick up and drop off their kids,” said Congresswoman Laura Friedman (CA-30). “Instead, Trump’s tariffs are making it harder to afford the basics — from pencils and backpacks to Chromebooks and textbooks. Education is the greatest equalizer, but these tariffs have turned it into another massive cost to shoulder.”
Friedman was joined by Interim Burbank Unified School District Superintendent Oscar Macias Burbank Unified School Board Clerk Emily Weisberg, and local parent leader Sam Benson.
Below: Friedman with school administrators, educators, and parents.
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