Tag Archives: donald trump

Warlord Games Offers Credit to Ease US Tariff Increases

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Warlord Games

President Donald Trump’s increase on tariffs and the removal of the “De Minimis” tariff exception are impacting consumers forcing companies to increase prices to pass along the increased cost of getting goods to the United States. The “De Minimis” exception meant that goods under a certain amount were not subject to tariffs at all. That of course is impacting the game industry where numerous companies are located outside of the United States and a lot of the manufacturing occurs in other countries as well.

Warlord Games, a British game publisher, has announced a plan to ease the burden on customers due to the “De Minimis” tariff removal and increased cost to consumers in the US. The company is moving to a “Delivered Duty Paid” service for US customers. That means tariffs will be calculated and charged at checkout which will help ease delivery times through customs.

Warlord Games has announced it is crediting accounts the value of the tariffs charged on Warlord Games products once the order has shipped.

An example they provided:

  • Order total: $120
  • Tariff: $12
  • Total with Tariff: $132
  • Credit in account to redeem once shipped: $12

While it’s never ideal to raise prices and this tax on consumers will increase costs for those in the US, it’s at least one way to ease the impact.

For those who had pre-ordered products that wouldn’t ship until after August 29, Warlord will send them Delivered Duty Paid at no addition cost. Warlord is eating the cost in those cases and customers won’t need to do anything more.

Super7 Makes a Statement about Layoffs and the Negative Impact of Trump’s Tariff Tax

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Super7 logo

President Donald Trump’s tariff tax is impacting numerous companies forcing them to make tough decisions. The increased costs have cancelled projects or delayed delivery of others, increased prices, and forced some to lay off staff. Super7, a company focused on toys and collectibles, are one who have been negatively impacted.

The company sent out a very honest and frank email to their subscribers yesterday titled “To Our Valued Super7 Supporters” laying out their new reality. On April 24th the company instituted an 8% surcharge to all non-apparel items ordered from them due to the tariffs.

You can read it in its entirety below and it’s well worth it.

To Our Valued Super7 Supporters,

Last week was really hard.

As you may have heard, we had to make the difficult decision to let team members go. These are people who were doing the best work in the industry, none of whom deserved to be let go. I want to be clear that this reduction in staff is a direct result of the tariffs applied to our industry. The preceding six months before the tariff announcement had been Super7’s best since the inception of the company nearly 24 years ago. Then the landscape changed overnight.

Make no mistake, the tariff is a tax on American companies and the American consumer. The people who lost their jobs last week were Americans across 16 different states. The 145% tariff effectively shut our business down, bringing new inventory leaving the factory to zero, compounded by massive tariffs on pre-order product already on the water headed to consumers. This week’s change in tariff to 30%, is still a massive increase to this industry that requires significant change to work within.

So what does that mean for Super7? Well, it means we need to be smaller and focus on the core of our business while being very specific about what we make. This allows Super7 to be safe for the future and continue to deliver the awesome product we are known for.

We still believe in the joy that making toys brings to all of us. We believe that the future will be better, and we look forward to continuing to deliver on that joy for the future. We hope to see you there with us.

-Brian Flynn

Tariffs Between US and China Decreased for 90 Days While Negotiations Continue

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Continuing to show that Trump’s “Art of the Deal” was all bullshit, the United States and China agreed to slash their tariffs while attempting to resolve differences during further negotiations.

The deal lasts for 90 days and the US will drop its 145% Trump tax to 30% while China will lower its tariff rate from 125% to 10%. So, in the end, consumers will still pay more than when all of this stupidity began. The US’s 30% tariff against China is a mix of the 10% tariff it has on most of the world and a 20% tariff to pressure China to do something about fentanyl entering the US.

The market improved in the news and but it might be too little and too late as ports around the country are seeing massive declines with some experiencing a 60% decrease in sailing from China and many seeing drops of over 40% in traffic.

The 90 day decrease might be good news for the toy and game industries which have been gravely impacted by the increased tariffs. Companies have already shut down, Kickstarters cancelled, and shipping has been delayed. With the 90 day window, we might see a rush to get product to the US shores, but it takes time to book ships and for those ships to travel. It may not be enough time, especially if product still needs to be printed/produced. Prices/additional charges have also been implemented by some stores to make up for the tariffs and it’s unknown if that might be adjusted due to the news as well.

As a whole, while the White House might be crowing about this, the US gains very little except increased costs that didn’t exist before and continued volatility in costs and consumer pricing.

We’ll see how/if this impacts the industry.

Trump Threatens 100% Tariff on Movies Not Made in the US

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Once again, President Trump has made a economic decision with little thought at all. The President announced that he would penalize films made in foreign countries with 100% tariffs, which will of course be paid by consumers and not the studios or theaters. He authorized the commerce department to start the process to impose the tariffs. The reason for decision is due to the American film industry dying “a very fast death.” The industry hasn’t fully recovered since COVID-19 closed theaters and their eventual reopening.

2024 saw the domestic box office gross $8.6 billion, down 3.8% from the previous year’s $8.9 billion. In 2019, the industry saw $11.4 billion at the domestic box office, down from the high in 2018 of $11.9 billion. 2020, the year COVID hit, things dipped to $2.1 billion and then over doubled in 2021, increased 64.4% in 2022 and an increase in 2023 which was $8.9 billion.

Worldwide, 2024 grossed $24.9 billion, down from 2023’s $28.2 billion. 2019 saw a high of $39.1 billion before a drop to $8.6 billion in 2020 and then over doubling in 2021 to $19.5 billion with a steady increase the next two years.

During COVID, movie studios focused on streaming, releasing new films on digital platforms, which clearly changed habits that haven’t reverted back to pre-COVID viewing.

After his announcement Sunday, Trump softened his stance saying he’d meet with “the industry” to “make sure they’re happy.”

It’s unclear what would see a tariff.

  • Would a movie from a US studio filmed overseas be tariffed?
  • Would a movie from a US studio that films part of the movie overseas be tariffed?
  • Would movies from studios outside the US be tariffed? What if they were filmed in the US?
  • How do films on streaming services get tariffed?
  • Is it determined by how a movie is financed?
  • Would tickets now be different prices based on where a movie was made?

As usual, an announcement is made with little detail, thought, or logic.

The White House Admits Trump is a Sith Lord

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President Trump‘s failure of a government keeps on failing. For “May the 4th,” the various social media teams did tie-in posts with most failing in spectacular ways. Maybe they were just early for “Revenge of the Sixth“?

The White House posted a photo of President Trump roided up with a Red Lightsaber. Anyone with basic knowledge knows that Red Lightsabers are wielded by the Sith, the bad guys who create a fascist government of tyranny and commit genocide and mass murder in multiple ways. Well at least they’ve come out of the shadows. We propose Darth Idiot for Trump’s Sith Lord name. Since there’s always two, never more, does that make JD Vance his apprentice? Darth Eyeliner or Darth Couchfucker are appropriate Sith Lord names for him.

The U.S. Army Pacific gets half credit for their work with admitting there’s Sith within their ranks (appropriate since we know there’s white supremacists who train within in the army to spread their knowledge after). While the first soldier has a Blue Lightsaber, the second soldier has a red one and looks like he’s about to cut down his squad mate like Vader did to Obi-wan or Qui-Gon did to Maul. Maybe he’s going all Order 66?

US Army Sith

Now, with a lot of fail, the DOD Rapid Response at least got most of the assignment right. While some of the stats are likely bullshit, the team there gave us a scrolling opening like the movies and at least go the Lightsaber colors right at the end.

Super7 is Increasing Prices Due to Tariffs

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Super7 logo

We’re admittedly behind in our coverage of the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the comic/toy/game industry but we’ll catch up, starting with Super7.

The company has announced that it has started an 8% surcharge to all non-apparel items.

Super7 features a lot of lines and properties including the popular ReAction line of figures.

To put it in perspective, a $20 figure would have an extra $1.60 added to its price.

While the current prices listed on the site (as of this article) don’t reflect the price increase, when we looked in our cart, the price increase was present.

You can reader Super7’s full announcement below.

Dear Super7 Community,

We want to share an important update about how recent changes in global trade and import tariffs are affecting us.

Starting today, April 24th, an 8% surcharge will be added to all non-apparel items.

We didn’t come to this decision lightly. For as long as possible, we’ve worked to absorb these rising costs ourselves—without passing them along to you. Unfortunately, the scale of these increases has made it unsustainable for us to continue doing so entirely. Even with this surcharge, it still doesn’t cover the full impact we’re facing.

We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes to minimize the effect on our community. If conditions change or a better solution becomes available, we’ll reevaluate this surcharge immediately.

Super7 has always been about more than just toys—it’s about the people who collect them. We’ll keep you updated every step of the way, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding and continued support during this time.

Sincerely,
Team Super7

Entertainment Earth Announces Price Increases and Delays

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Entertainment Earth

With President Donald Trump’s tariffs sending shockwaves through numerous industries, many are scrambling to figure out what to do and how to manage the current price increases. Tariffs are taxes paid by the company importing the product based on their declared value. So, if a product has a value of $10 and it’s a 100% tariff, the company would pay $10, this doubling their “cost.” That increased cost has to then be made up somewhere and that means either the company has to decrease its profits or pass along the increase to consumers. Many are doing the latter, increasing the price of their products which is trickling down to consumers.

The toy industry is being greatly impacted as many of their products are made overseas, particularly China where the President has enacted a tariff of 145% and when added on to existing ones, the levies on some Chinese goods could reach 245%. That’s a massive increase in costs that didn’t exist just a few months ago. And, with products planned months in advance, products that went into production before the tariffs even existed are being impacted.

Someone has to pay, and it looks like it’ll be consumers in the end. Entertainment Earth has announced that consumers can expect price increases or delays. In an email, the store wrote:

I want to update you on the current environment (specifically related to new tariff policy) and the impact it is having on our business and our pricing.

Since February, the Entertainment Earth team has been working as hard as possible with our vendor partners and internally to absorb as much cost impact as possible. Unfortunately, we cannot absorb all of the cost increases/tariffs, particularly on products coming from China.  Additionally, the current situation is preventing many retailers (ourselves included) from importing product from China which will impact timing of product receipt.

A few things to know:

  • You will be receiving information in the coming days on price increases and/or delays based on cost increases from vendors and/or tariffs.
  • To protect you and your purchases, you will be able to adjust your orders without penalty, as we understand the new costs may impact your ability/desire for these products.
  • If the environment changes and we have the opportunity to reduce prices, we have every intention to do so based on positive changes in the cost structure of toys. Our goal is to support you in building and growing your collections.

Entertainment Earth was built by fans with the singular purpose of bringing pop culture joy to all of you. As fans and collectors ourselves, it truly pains us both personally and professionally not to be able to deliver amazing collector products from so many terrific partners at prices that meet your (and our) expectations.

Please know that we continue to advocate for improved pricing from all possible partners, that we continue to “tighten our belt” as much as possible to serve you, and that if we see positive changes that can lower price, we will pass them on.

Thank you deeply for your continued support and partnership. As always, please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions.

Best regards,
Billy Lagor, CEO Entertainment Earth, and the EE Team

President Trump announces a 90-day tariffs pause except for China

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With so many questions in the air as far as the impact of President Trump’s Tariff War on the comic and tabletop game industry, there’s a 90-day pause now that’ll leave some breathing room for publishers to keep on worrying, sort of.

President Trump has issued a 90-day pause and Reciprocal Tariff of 10 percent. But, tariffs on China will be 125 percent due to China’s “lack of respect” towards the world’s markets.

Trump’s pause impacts 75 trading partners who did not “retaliate” after the tariffs he imposed went into effect.

The whiplash continues an erratic economic plan that leaves much up in the air for the comic, toy, and tabletop game industry.

Much of the production for those industries happen in China and Canada, requiring importing of product to the United States. The tariffs threaten all of those industries with some game publishers canceling projects, pausing projects, eating the increased costs, or asking for more money.

While it is believed that the tariffs don’t impact comic publishing in Canada (and honestly who knows with the morons in charge) the continued tariffs on Chinese imports will still potentially crush the industries.

There’s also the question as to what happens after 90 days? With production taking so long for games and comics, it’s hard to plan on the economic outlook and what to charge at this point.

This economic unknown along with distribution uncertainty in the comic industry creates a landscape that will be difficult to navigate for all three industries for the foreseeable future.

Rosarium Publishing Lays Out the Tariff Impact on Publishing

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Rosarium Publishing

Founded in 2013, Rosarium Publishing is a publisher of speculative fiction, comics, and crime fiction – all with a multicultural flair, and like all publishers right now, are trying to figure out the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on their business. Rosarium has published a rather interesting breakdown and some facts about the actual impact which would happen even if they shifted their entire publishing operation to the United States.

Here’s the highlights and you can read their entire post here:

  • They print their prose books in the US and graphic novels in Canada
  • US printers rely on Canada for their paper, printing plates, carboard cartons, plastic lids, and more, which means even with a US printer publishers are still impacted by the tariffs
  • That 70% of the retail price goes to someone else. The remaining 30% pays for printing, marketing, and miscellaneous costs
  • Price hikes will have to come with the tariffs. Rosarium mentions 25-50% increases
  • Increased prices will result in decreased sales which will force many small publishers to close
  • Crowdfunding could insulate publishers from risks and increase costs
  • Recent crowdfunding campaigns that ended before the tariffs but yet to deliver will be impacted negatively

TikTok Sale Deadline extended for 75 Days

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TikTok

President Trump has announced that he is extending the sale deadline for TikTok by 75 days. The reason given was the need for more time to hash out a deal that would allow the social media platform to continue to operate in the United States.

ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, must find a non-Chinese buyer for the app or it will be banned under a law passed in 2024. The original sale date was extended to April 5 by President Trump by executive order on his first day in office. The app had gone dark just before that executive order but was later restored.

While there have been numerous rumors and reports of interested buyers, ByteDance released this statement today:

ByteDance has been in discussion with the U.S. Government regarding a potential solution for TikTok U.S.  An agreement has not been executed.  There are key matters to be resolved.  Any agreement will be subject to approval under Chinese law.

While a bit off the path for our site, the platform has about 170 million users in the US and has become a growing community and platform to promote comic books and tabletop games.

The administration had previously stated it had confidence a high-level agreement would be in place by the deadline.

You can follow Graphic Policy on TikTok and Board Game Today on TikTok.

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