WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 -- Jamie Fiocco, president of the American Booksellers Association, said she is "worried" about the upcoming holiday season because additional tariffs on books imported from China could discourage publishers from reprinting and many books would run out of stock.

The September round of tariffs is probably hurting the publishers, who face higher costs but are reluctant to raise the prices, Fiocco told Xinhua in a telephone interview earlier this week. "I feel like next month it may come down to the retailers."

Despite strong opposition, the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese imports including black-and-white books, as well as some colored books such as cooking books and travel books, effective Sept. 1, while delaying tariffs on children's books until Dec. 15.

"Independent bookstores just don't have the space and the money to buy stock well in advance and warehouse it. So we are more likely to go with just-in-time inventory," said Fiocco, whose organization represents some 2,000 independent brick-and-mortar booksellers nationwide.

Fiocco is the owner of Flyleaf Books, located in Chapel Hill in the southeastern U.S. state of North Carolina. She told Xinhua that eight to 12 weeks is an "absolute minimum" for her to plan, and she had made all the decisions for the holiday season by September.

"We will reorder, but at this point we reorder at the mercy of the publisher stock," said Fiocco, adding that she thinks publishers might just let the stock run out and wait out the U.S.-China trade talks.

"If the books are gone because the publishers didn't order enough, then they're gone," she said.

Most bookstores do "a big portion" of their business during the holiday season, which usually runs from late November to the end of December, Fiocco said. For her store, it's about a third. "We will know in the next two weeks how it's gonna go," she said.

Noting that the margins for independent bookstores are very tight, Fiocco said if publishers decide to pass the price along to booksellers in the future, they will have to do the same -- pass the price along to consumers. "So the prices will go up, which no one wants, but that's a reality," she told Xinhua earlier.

Fiocco works with several organizations that distribute free books to low-income families, and she is concerned that their budgets will be directly impacted if the prices go up. "That remains a fear if we don't have some kind of resolution," she said.

Worse still, U.S. bookstores have also been taking a hit from the additional tariffs on other Chinese imports, as they often try to increase their profitability by selling more gift items or non-book products, many of which are made in China, Fiocco said.

Even though booksellers try to source from the United States, "so many products we want are made in China," Fiocco said. "It would be hard for any one bookstore to not have something sourced from China."

"We're affected by higher prices on another segment of our inventory," she said. "There are some price increases, I would be very sure of that."

Despite tight margins, independent bookstores have been growing across the country over the past decade, Fiocco said. Data from the association showed that there are 1,887 member companies with 2,524 locations in 2019, up by 35 percent and 53 percent respectively from 2009.

As it takes long for a book to be printed and to be shipped back to the United States, she explained, "So it's kind of a done deal for the season."

However, Fiocco said " if a deal is reached, that's good for everyone." There is hope for next spring season, she added.

"It will erase the uncertainty and will allow publishers to make decisions on their manufacturing without that added uncertainty, "she said, adding that "we need that relationship to be steady and to be strong."