Toy manufacturers could be forced to raise prices sharply – as much as 56% – if President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff proposal on foreign made goods is implemented, according to a report from the National Retail Federation.
According to a report this week from the US trade group, a $50 tricycle would increase to as much as $78; a $25 board game could cost $39 and a $17 plush toy could spike to $27 under the tax plan.
Trump has called for a universal tariff of 10% to 20% on all imports into the United States from all countries and an additional tariff of 60% on all imports from China.
The idea is to create more manufacturing jobs in the US and boost the economy by increasing exports. But some experts fret that it could stoke inflation here and spark trade wars and retaliatory tariffs on exported US goods.
“There is no manufacturing base for toys in the US anymore,” Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun – maker of Care Bears and Lincoln Logs – told The Post. “What can we do?”
Trump has threatened to slap US companies like John Deere with higher taxes for moving jobs overseas.
Overseas sales of US agricultural goods, whiskey, orange juice and even motorcycles declined after the European Union, China and other governments imposed tariffs on those goods four years ago.
Other consumer goods, including furniture, household appliances, footwear and travel goods would cost more as well, according to the report.
The tariffs would cost consumers an extra $46 to $78 billion or $362 to $624 per household for just those six product categories, according to the report.
“We find that the additional costs associated with these proposed tariffs would be too large for US retailers to absorb and, when passed on to consumers, would result in prices higher than many consumers would be willing or able to pay,” the report found.
“Some consumers would stop purchasing the items and demand would fall,” according to the report.
Household appliances could cost 31% more with a basic refrigerator that costs $650 today going up to to $852 or a a $40 toaster oven going up to $52, the NRF reports.
Footwear prices would also spike by as much as 29% with a $90 pair of sneakers jumping to as much as $116 and a $48 pair of women’s slipper going up to $62 while a $119 handbag would cost $26 more, according to the report.
By another measure, US households could lose between $1,900 and $7,600 in disposable income, according to the Budget Lab, a Yale University policy research center.
The toy industry is uniquely vulnerable as the vast majority of all toys are made in China, according to the report released Monday, which was titled “Estimated impacts or proposed tariffs on imports”.
Basic Fun’s Tonka Mighty Dump Truck, for example, currently sells for $30 but with a 60% tariff it would sell for $45, Foreman said.
