Trump tariffs could force a quarter of board game publishers to stop production altogether
Due to
How President Trump's Tariffs on China Will Impact Board Game Publishers and Designers — Cardboard Edison
https://cardboardedison.com/tariffs
Trump tariffs could mean 25% fewer board game publishers | Polygon
https://www.polygon.com/news/558274/trump-tariffs-board-game-survey-cardboard-edison-quarter
Cardboard Edison, a resource for board game designers, is investigating the impact of President Trump's reciprocal tariffs on the U.S. board game industry.
Few American board game publishers have manufacturing facilities, and most of them manufacture their board games in China, which has been the most affordable manufacturing location for board game publishers for decades. Many board game publishers also operate on thin margins, selling the majority of their supply to distributors at roughly double the profit margin. This leaves them with little room to cover overhead costs and high tariffs.
Cardboard Edison conducted a direct interview survey of American board game publishers to find out how they think the Trump tariffs will affect them, and compiled a report. Cardboard Edison asked board game publishers, 'How would your approach change if the U.S. maintained tariffs of 104-125% or more on China?' During this survey, the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on China rose to 145%.
Of the 62 board game publishers that responded, 52 said they always manufacture board games in China, 9 said they sometimes manufacture board games in China, and one said they have never manufactured board games in China. Therefore, the report only includes responses from 61 companies that manufacture board games in China.
Cardboard Edison classifies publishers into three categories based on the number of board games they release: 'small' (37 publishers) if they have released fewer than 10 titles, 'medium' (20 publishers) if they have released 10-49 titles, and 'large' (4 publishers) if they have released 50 or more titles.
Below is a graph summarizing the responses to whether or not the price of board games will increase due to the impact of Trump tariffs. 90% answered that the price will increase, 5% did not answer, and the remaining 5% answered that the price will remain the same or decrease. Regardless of the size of the publisher, all publishers answered that they will increase the price of board games.
'I don't see a future under tariffs where we can avoid raising the prices of our games,' said Christopher O'Neill of
In addition, several publishers said that even if they moved their production bases outside of China, price increases were unavoidable. The reason for this is simple: production costs in China were overwhelmingly cheaper than in other regions. Even publishers who responded that they manufacture board games outside of China mentioned that they would be forced to raise prices due to the impact of Trump tariffs.
'Almost all of my games are made in the US, but our paper comes from Canada and our ink comes from Asia, so we're subject to tariffs. There's no avoiding tariffs in this industry,' Tim Densham of Catastrophe Games and Valor Mountain Games said.
In addition, the graph below summarizes the responses regarding the number of copies of board games published. About two-thirds of the publishers surveyed said that they would be forced to reduce the number of copies of board games published if the Trump tariffs continued. 18% answered 'I don't know.'
The reason for this is that the introduction of tariffs will require publishers to keep more cash on hand to cover the additional tax burden when placing orders. This means that without sufficient cash reserves, it will be difficult to mass-produce. Some publishers have even gone so far as to say that selling board games to the distribution system is 'not viable' as a business because of the low profit margins they can earn.
In addition, the number of board games in some categories is expected to decline sharply due to the playing card tariffs. Card games, which have low manufacturing costs and high profit margins, are likely to remain attractive products to publishers even under the playing card tariffs. However, it has been pointed out that the appeal of dice games, which require large numbers of expensive parts, will decrease dramatically.
In the survey, publishers who said they would make family board games fell by 19%, publishers who said they would make beginner board games fell by 33%, publishers who said they would make themed games fell by 36%, publishers who said they would make dice games fell by 41%, and publishers who said they would make board games even under the Trump tariffs fell by 23%. Regarding the fact that many publishers, from small to large, said they would stop making board games, Cardboard Edison said, 'The Trump tariffs will have a significant impact on the industry.'
Some publishers have responded by saying they will withdraw from the business altogether, while others in the industry have said they are 'unsure whether they will be able to continue manufacturing games.'
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