A variety of board game publishers have expressed concerns after the announcement of a 54% tariff to be imposed on China by the US. “The reality of a 54% tariff is devastating” for the tabletop industry, Stonemaier Games says in a blog post from April 3. “There is no silver lining. It is a lose-lose-lose situation for everyone involved except the US government.”
President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ plans will apply a blanket 10% tariff to all imports entering the US, and about 60 countries will be hit by a larger ‘reciprocal’ tariff. The affected countries are those with which the US has a high trade deficit (it imports more than it exports).
The Trump administration confirmed that each tariff was calculated as follows: the country’s trade deficit divided by its exports to the US multiplied by 1/2. These larger tariffs will take effect on April 9.
The tabletop hobby’s vested interest in Chinese tariffs comes from the fact that most publishers produce their games’ components in China. This is a cost-cutting strategy, as the same meeples, boxes, and plastic inserts would cost more – or simply aren’t possible – to mass produce at home.
The TLDR here is that board games are about to become a lot more expensive to produce and purchase. In a statement about the tariffs from Steve Jackson Games, the board game publisher explains that “we can’t absorb this kind of cost increase without raising prices”.
“Here are the numbers: A product we might have manufactured in China for $3.00 last year could now cost $4.62 before we even ship it across the ocean.” “Add freight, warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution margins, and that once-$25 game quickly becomes a $40 product”, Steve Jackson Games says. “That’s not a luxury upcharge; it’s survival math.”
Steve Jackson Games’ statement adds that the US lacks the infrastructure to support the complete production of a board game – something that is echoed by the blog post from Stonemaier Games. “Manufacturing the types of games we make is not an option in the US”, Stonemaier says.
“Even if a company wanted to invest in the infrastructure to try to make it happen, the short-term losses from the tariffs will eat too deep into their cash to make it possible (plus, many of the machines used to make games are also made in China, so you’ll pay a huge tariff even if you invest in the machines needed to make games in the US).”
Stonemaier Games predicts that the board game industry will become increasingly reliant on crowdfunding and direct sales over retail. “Tariffs will have a smaller impact on those direct prices than on retail prices, which involve a multiplier so distributors and retailers have sustainable margins”, it says. “There will be far more games that are available exactly once and never again.”
Crowdfunding platform Gamefound has already shared its plans to support publishers after the tariffs announcement. CEO Marcin Świerkot says that Gamefound will offer better tools for managing refunds, as well as the option to offer different prices for a product depending on the country of the buyer. Additionally, “if the creator is in a position to ask backers to cover their portion of the new tariffs, we want to make sure that the process will be easier for both the creator and the backer”.
Stonemaier Games says that this reliance on crowdfunding will cause even more problems for small retailers, for whom it says “a game that was once priced at $50 will now cost as much as $75 at retail”. The cost of these tariffs will be passed down to the consumer – and this won’t just apply to luxury items like board games. As essentials like food, fuel, and vehicles become pricier, the average American will have far less to spend on hobby items.
The overall result? “The entire board game industry is having very difficult conversations right now”, says Steve Jackson Games. “For some, this might mean simplifying products or delaying launches. For others, it might mean walking away from titles that are no longer economically viable. And, for what I fear will be too many, it means closing down entirely.”
While these publishers are experts on their products, it’s important to remember that their statements include a lot of speculation. With China promising retaliatory action and many world powers condemning the tariffs, there’s still a chance that the situation will alter before April 9.
If you want to think about tabletop games without some world politics thrown in, feel free to distract yourself with our best board games guide. We can recommend some great couples’ board games, too.