Do Tariffs Apply To RPG Books? Maybe, Maybe Not!

When the recent tariffs were announced by the US, panic was the first reaction from tabletop roleplaying game publishers.

This was soon followed by a wave of hope as people shared an official exemption list which included "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter in single sheets, whether or not folded" and "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, other than in single sheets" (see codes 49011000 and 49019900). Seemingly, TTRPG rulebooks might escape the tariffs!

However, ICv2 is reporting that this may not be the case. According to a pair of rulings dating all the way back to 1989 and 1991, TTRPG rulebooks are instead classified as "arcade, table or parlor games… parts and accessories thereof". These rulings came from the US Custom and Border Protection agency, and were applied to Columbia Games and West End Games, respectively.

The first ruling was titled "Fantasy Role Play Expansion Modules".

In our opinion, heading 9504 provides the more specific description of the merchandise in issue. The modules enhance fantasy game play; they were not designed for passive reading.

- US Customs and Border Protection, November 1989​

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The second ruling, titled "Fantasy role play games books are expansion modules are designed to enhance fantasy game play, not for passive reading" reads as follows.

As a result of the foregoing, the instant merchandise is classified under subheading 9504.90.9080, HTSUSA, as articles for arcade, table or parlor games, including pinball machines, bagatelle, billiards and special tables for casino games; automatic bowling alley equipment; parts and accessories thereof; other, other, other, other. The applicable rate of duty is 4.64 percent ad valorem.

- US Customs and Border Protection, November 1991​

These rulings are both 35 years old, so there is no guarantee that the same ruling would be made today. This ruling, from last year, classifies a Shadowrun supplement as a book, noting that "This ruling only takes into consideration the books when imported separately." But it does cast doubt on the status of TTRPG rulebooks. Are they books or are they games, according to the US customs agencies? If the latter, TTRPG books coming from China would suffer the same 145% tariff that boxed sets, accessories, and boardgames do. That means that a $30K print run of a few thousand books would incur an additional $43,500 bill when arriving at port in the US--considerably more than it costs to manufacture them in the first place.

Products coming from countries other than China are currently subject to a lower 10% tariff. However, with the speed at which the situation changes, it is impossible for companies to plan shipments to the US. Whatever the tariffs, what is necessary for trade is stability. Most organisations need a lead time measured in weeks--or sometimes months--in order to budget and plan for manufacturing and international shipments, and the tariffs are currently changing on a daily basis. And without even knowing for sure whether TTRPG rulebooks incur the tariff, we may have to wait until the first shipment hits port to find out!

The Shipping Tariff Lottery #shorts

The gamble we face when deciding whether to ship product to the US right now. #Gaming #ShippingChallenges #Tariffs #Kickstarter #GameDesign

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[Sacrosanct]

You gotta do what you gotta do. I’m sure you know how to run your business. I’m just telling you how I run mine.

Luckily there has been a slowly but steady increase in public understanding of the value of the intellectual work in a product, and that has been commensurate with a very slow but actual increase in the wages of the creators and artists. It’s being somewhat undercut recently by the AI proponents, sadly, but I am hopeful that people will continue to recognise that the material itself has great value and the trend will continue.

Oh, I'm not judging. The more success to publishers the better. The more money you take in, the more people you can hire. Which is a win in my book.

 

[Morrus]

But one place where I disagree is the need to educate the customers. You can explain everything that you want, I'll never pay 60$ for a PDF. You can try to explain to someone that the 30$ they pay for a burger at the restaurant is also paying for the building, the wages, the ingredients, the experience, cleaning the facility and every other expenses encountered by the business, I'm still not paying 30$ for a burger. Understanding the economics often has very little effect on customers behaviors.

Well, forgetting the arbitrary $60 figure you used, it may be that you have to accept that in the long run that if you individually won’t pay the value of something, you can’t have it. And if nobody will pay the value of the product, then that product is not a viable one and can’t be made.

Sadly a lot of publishers do sell their products at less than their value, and as a consequence are forced to either exploit their freelancers or go under. I feel that this is changing however, albeit slowly. And as the industry as a whole moves more towards digital platforms, and the larger companies like WotC set the trends because they can’t sell things for less than they cost to make, things will stabilise at something equitable.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Well, forgetting the arbitrary $60 figure you used, it may be that you have to accept that in the long run that if you individually won’t pay the value of something, you can’t have it.

Rather obviously, that's only true for people who abide by the rules. The pirates throw the calculations of value off for everyone, and an awful lot of them get awfully self-righteous about it when confronted. They aren't "helping the community" or whatever their individual excuse is, but getting them to realize that and stop is hard.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

Well, forgetting the arbitrary $60 figure you used, it may be that you have to accept that in the long run that if you individually won’t pay the value of something, you can’t have it. And if nobody will pay the value of the product, then that product is not a viable one and can’t be made.

I agree. But I think that the value of something is irrelevant. We're talking about perceived value. That's why I'm saying that the PDF isn't inherent less valuable, but my perceived value of it is different.

And we have the same situation in video games. Indies tend to lower the price of their products drastically to entice people to buy them. There's a huge hard radioactive ceiling that's the price range of AAA games, and you can't get near that (or very few can).

 

[Morrus]

Rather obviously, that's only true for people who abide by the rules. The pirates throw the calculations of value off for everyone, and an awful lot of them get awfully self-righteous about it when confronted. They aren't "helping the community" or whatever their individual excuse is, but getting them to realize that and stop is hard.

Well, that goes for every industry. Physical stuff gets counterfeited, digital stuff gets pirated, things in shops get shoplifted. There’s not really anything we can do about that. We just have to accept that people will steal from us and will feel justified in doing so.

 

[Morrus]

I agree. But I think that the value of something is irrelevant. We're talking about perceived value. That's why I'm saying that the PDF isn't inherent less valuable, but my perceived value of it is different.

Yes, you said that.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

The pirates throw the calculations of value off for everyone, and an awful lot of them get awfully self-righteous about it when confronted. They aren't "helping the community" or whatever their individual excuse is, but getting them to realize that and stop is hard.

Piracy is a complicated topics. But it's an issue of economics of accessibility (or user experience).

I don't have any researched numbers, but I know that a vast majority of pirates pirate video games because they either can't afford them, can't access them or the user experience of pirating it is just better. In two of these three cases, it has no effects on the livelihood of the companies producing the content.

I pirated an incredible number of video games when I was a kid. I had like 10$ in my account and couldn't afford the games. Pirating or not, I would never have bought the games because we were too poor.

I regularly pirate shows or movies that are just not accessible on any platforms in my country. I will gladly pay to rent a movie (and do so), make it accessible.

Lastly, I haven't done it, but I know that in video games, the pirated version of games without DRM will often have better performance, less intrusive ads, requirement for connection, etc. You get a worse experience if you buy the product. It's like that with Adobe product, I have no shame in saying that I pirated Photoshop a while back. And the difference in performance between the ever-online legal version and the pirated version was night and day. I haven't used Photoshop in a while, but if I had to, I would not buy it. Or I would buy it, but use the pirated version on the side.

There's a reason why piracy of movies went down after the rise of Netflix, but that it's going up now that the content is split between a dozen steaming services, with different tiers, ads, limited access, restrictions, etc.

Steam is a great example. It has made the experience of buying games, downloading them, managing your library, conversion between currency and all of that that it has drastically reduced piracy in video games.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for piracy (or even against it). But as someone that makes products that are subject to piracy, I understand some of the dynamics behind it.

So, it's clear that piracy affects the value (lost revenue, etc) but maybe not as much as we'd think.