Toy company BasicFun!’s CEO, Jay Foreman, has shared a warning about prices going up this Christmas due to President Donald Trump’s global tariffs plan.
On Wednesday, the President of the United States announced a 90-day pause on implementing tariffs on imports in 75 nations, only hours after his plan took effect. However, he escalated his tit-for-tat trade war with China by imposing additional duties of 125 percent.
As a result of the plan, Foreman halted his company’s orders of Carebears and Tonka Trucks, two brands in China that work closely with BasicFun! With the heavy tariff on imports from China, the CEO is also expecting a rise in toy prices in the U.S.
“That means 80 percent of the toys will be twice as expensive this Christmas as they were last Christmas,” he toldToday on Thursday, noting that the brand may have a “shortage of toys” in December.
“I mean, even a short-term disruption will upset the flow of goods — but we still have time,” he added.
He shared how the products could be affected, meaning, the beloved $30 Tonka Truck could ultimately cost $70.
“There are no factories in the United States making the type of toys that we manufacture,” Foreman said.
The co-owner of The Christmas Loft in New Hampshire, Greg Vander Veer, also shared how the tariffs will impact his business both during and before the holidays. He explained that 85 percent of the store’s inventory is from China, so the company is already being impacted by Trump’s tariffs policy.
“The Loft will absorb some of the cost, but I imagine we'll have to raise the prices, you know, at least 50 percent,” Vander Veer told Today, noting his company sells products year-round.
Many small businesses are already bearing the brunt of Trump’s economic gamble.
“I don’t know if we're going to make it past July,” Jeff Logan, who runs a tattoo supply business near Philadelphia with his wife, told The Independent.
Like many other small businesses in a globalized economy, Logan imports products that are made cheaply abroad and sells them to buyers in the United States. Almost all modern tattoo needles are made in China, so he buys large quantities to sell to artists and studios here. Logan’s business, which was founded in 1992, is now at risk of closing.
“The end result is real small businesses, mom and pop shops, we're the ones that get put under,” he added. “Amazon doesn't feel the hurt, Walmart doesn’t feel it. We do,” he added.
On Wednesday, the president said he pulled back on tariffs for more than 75 nations because people “were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”
It came barely 48 hours after a White House spokesman dismissed reports of a 90-day pause as “fake news” and followed intense political pressure from fellow Republicans and some of the president’s own billionaire backers.
And it came only 12 hours after Trump boasted at a fundraising dinner: “These countries are calling us up, kissing my a** to negotiate deals.”
