US toy industry
When the cuddly toy trumps fall victim to tariffs
This should not increase Donald Trump’s popularity: toys threaten to become more drastically expensive in the United States. Because almost everyone comes from China, as desperate toy dealers report.
Donald Trump’s customs war produces new absurdities every few days. While the rest of the world is now excluded from the worst tariffs for 90 days, Trump has repeatedly added China. Horrende 145 percent will be Chinese products in the future. Trump wants to demonstrate special hardness against the arch -rival.
However, the direct effect is that Chinese goods in the USA are becoming more rapid. And this is particularly important for a product group, which at least emotionally has a high priority: toys. 77 percent of all toys sold in the United States came from China, says the US Toys Association, which represents industry sizes such as Hasbro or Mattel. Thanks to Trump’s tariffs, they could now become luxury items.
Plush panda for 80 instead of $ 32
For example, there is the “Pippin Toy” toy shop in Alexandria, Virginia, to whom the US broadcaster paid a visit. Owner Amy Rutherford leads through shelves full of cuddly toys and experiment boxes. Almost everything in her shop comes from China, says Rutherford. Even the toys on which “Made in USA” is made of Chinese parts.
A plush panda, which today costs $ 32, could soon cost $ 80 due to the tariffs, says Rutherford. “People won’t want to pay for it.” Simply replacing the Chinese goods with locals is not easily possible. Because in the United States, not enough toys would not be produced at all.
China toy industry depends on China
The US toy manufacturers should have problems expanding their production in the United States. Isaac Larian, head of the California toy company MGA Entertainment, says in conversation that he would like to produce more in his production facility in Ohio, where, among other things, game cars are created. However, there is a lack of enough workers, because the Americans “don’t want to work in factories,” says Larian. In order to get them, he would have to pay salaries that made the toys too expensive.
Larian therefore has the majority of his products manufactured in China. And Trump’s tariffs would now drastically make them drastically: “We have no choice but to increase our prices in the high double -digit range,” he says. Apart from the lack of workers, there are also no materials in the United States, for example for the production of doll hair. Therefore, there is no American factory that makes hair for dolls, says Larian. “But what should I do?
Greg Ahearn, the head of the toy association, emphasizes that there is no way around massive price increases for customers, which has been acting in crisis mode for days. The toy industry migrated to China in the 80s and early 90s. The low labor costs there would have ensured that the toys in the United States could be sold cheaply to the end customers. Today there is a huge infrastructure for toy production in China, which also use smaller US companies. It does not seem to be possible to build everything back in the USA – which is the idea behind Trump’s import duties. The American therefore speaks for 0 percent tariffs on toys worldwide.
Trump’s customs on Chinese toys and others are likely to have a completely different impact on Europe. Trading experts fear that the European market is flooded with an additional flood of Chinese cheap products that can no longer be sold in the United States. Consumer advocates already warn of unsafe products that do not meet local security standards.
Source: Stern
