Jerome had a personal opinion about these books, that was not normative for the Church; the books in question were canonized at Hippo and Carthage and were a part of every bible ever since, excepting Protestant falsifications of the scripture. They were also translated by Jerome despite his misgivings, and included in his Vulgate.
The councils of Hippo and Carthage were local councils and had no right to declare anything for every RCC church.
Moreover, many RCC theologians after Jerome followed Jeromes own view through the Middle Ages, and did not regard those Apocrypha books equal with the Canon.
Thus, the RCC Canon was not decided until Trent.
As for including the books, Jerome did so relunticantly and made sure from comments in the Vulgate, that they were to be regarded as 'secondary' works.