China Tariffs Already Mean Fewer, More Expensive Dolls for American Kid
From
ltlee1@21:1/5 to
All on Sat Jun 7 18:24:37 2025
XPost: alt, politics.usa
From WSJ:
"Carly has auburn hair, blue eyes and stands 18 inches tall. Like most
dolls sold in the U.S., she is made in China.
That is now a problem for her maker, William Su, who sells tens of
thousands of dolls and their accessories a year to Americans through
Amazon, Walmart and Target. When President Trump raised tariffs on China
to 145% in April, Su, who is based in New York and Taiwan, stopped
production because he and his buyers couldn’t afford the tariffs.
When, last month, the president cut the tariff to 30% for a 90-day
period for the U.S. and China to continue trade talks, Su quickly ramped
up his factories and pushed his buyers to accept price increases.
Nevertheless, weeks of lost production, and uncertainty over where
tariffs will land after the 90-day reprieve, means Su expects to ship
one-third fewer dolls than usual ahead of Christmas.
“Some toys like dolls and doll strollers we have no alternative other
than China in 2025,” Su said. With the future of tariff rates uncertain, making more dolls to ship into the U.S. is “like gambling,” he added.
..
“You can sell a lot more dolls at $15 than you would at $20 or $25,”
said Isaac Larian, chief executive of MGA Entertainment, a Walmart
supplier and one of the world’s largest toy producers, behind brands
such as Bratz. He says the 30% tariffs are causing him to raise prices
for his China-made dolls by about 10% to 30% and trim production. “Why
tax children’s joy?” he said."
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