How Will The New Tariffs Affect TTRPG Prices?

New US tariffs have hit the world, and the tabletop gaming industry is bracing for impact. Every company (including us) will be doing a thorough analysis of how the recent US tariffs will affect their business, and then plan accordingly.

Of the raft of global tariffs on US imports declared yesterday, two in particular affect the tabletop gaming industry--the tariffs on the EU and on China.

The new tariff on goods manufactured in the EU is 20%, while those which originate in China are 34%. This is in addition to a recent 20% tariff on China, raising that level to 54%.

The tariff applies to the place of origin of a product, not the country where the company is registered. Many game companies in Europe, the UK, and Scandinavia print books in the EU; and more complex products which require boxes or other components, including those from game companies in the US, often come from China. The tariff on UK-produced products is 10%, but most UK-based companies print in the EU and China.

There is something called the 'de minimis threshold', and generally shipments below that value do not incur tariffs. In the US that is currently $800, and it mainly affects individual orders bought from overseas. However, that no longer applies to goods made in China. It also won't help with shipments of inventory (such as a print run) shipped to a US warehouse from the EU. When somebody in the US orders a book from, say, a UK game company, that order will often be fulfilled from inventory stored in a US warehouse rather than shipped directly from the UK. That US inventory will have incurred the tariff when it was shipped as part of a larger shipment.

A shipment of our books from our printer in the EU​

Of course, these aren't the only way that tariffs can affect prices. Even products manufactured in the US might use materials or components from China, Canada, or the EU, and that will affect the production cost of those products. For example, a US printer which uses paper sources in Canada is going to have increased costs. DriveThruRPG's print-on-demand costs have already increased by as much as 50% in the US.

How might game companies go about handling these increased costs?

• Eat the tariff themselves. That might be possible in some instances, but the size of them will likely make that non-feasible. Most game products do not have a 54% profit margin.​
• Manufacture in the US. That solution might be feasible but runs into a couple of barriers. (1) US printing costs tend to be higher; (2) goods would then have to be exported to the EU, Canada, and other countries, which may have reciprocal tariffs in place; (3) US printing capacity isn't up to the task (remember printers don't just print games--we're talking books); (4) US non-book game component manufacture capacity is even more difficult; (5) splitting a print run between a US and EU or Chinese printer greatly reduces the per-unit manufacture cost as the volume at each location will be halved; (6) as the recent DTRPG printing cost increase shows, even US printers use raw materials from elsewhere.​
• Pass the cost along to customers. This, unfortunately, is probably going to be the most feasible result. This means that the price of games will be going up.​

It gets really difficult when the production/shipping process straddles the tariff. We at EN Publishing have four Kickstarters fulfilling (Voidrunner's Codex, Gate Pass Gazette Annual 2024, Monstrous Menagerie II, and Split the Hoard) which have been paid for, including shipping, by the customer already. Two of those (Voidrunner and Split the Hoard) involve boxes and components, which meant they were manufactured in China. The other two are printed in the EU (Lithuania, specifically). All four inventory shipments will arrive in the US after the tariffs come in. We haven't yet worked out exactly what that means, but it won't be pleasant.

I suspect in the future, in these days of sudden tariffs, companies will hold back on charging for shipping right up until the last minute. And that's also bad news for customers, as they won't know the shipping price of a game until it's about to ship. This might also mean a shift towards digital sales which--currently--are not affected.

Most game companies are likely crunching numbers and planning right now. It is not known how long the tariffs will be in effect for, or what retaliatory tariffs countries will put in place against US goods. But this is a global issue which is going to drastically affect the tabletop gaming industry (along with most every other industry, but this is a TTRPG news site!)

Steve Jackson Games posted about the tariffs (the site seems to be experiencing high traffic at the time of writing)--

Some people ask, "Why not manufacture in the U.S.?" I wish we could. But the infrastructure to support full-scale boardgame production – specialty dice making, die-cutting, custom plastic and wood components – doesn't meaningfully exist here yet. I've gotten quotes. I've talked to factories. Even when the willingness is there, the equipment, labor, and timelines simply aren't.

We aren't the only company facing this challenge. The entire board game industry is having very difficult conversations right now. 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.

Note: please keep discussion to the effect of tariffs on the game industry. This forum isn't the place to discuss international politics.

 

[dragoner]

Unfortunately, the port situation is its own sort of mini-problem (as we found out in the Portland area when a small dispute between unions shut down the international shipping port for years), but they are entitled to charge for the process. I believe the Trump administration was also threatening a huge charge per ship. If the process isn't covering the cost, then you increase the inspection cost.

Another cost on top of the tariff, and with critical minerals, products; we can't stop importing them. I understand what the idea of why this is being done, it is too little too late, and there are a lot of other tools to accomplish things beyond ham-fisted measures such as these tariffs.

Almost always yes, the workers are American. The importers aren't always homegrown American companies, but US subsidiaries. Tariffs are going to be a bit of a wildcard. Eating a 10-15% tariff on a high margin / high perceived value import is possible, which is why the EU (and Japan) deals aren't quite so crippling.

Another problem, we don't have enough workers as is, because of the falling fertility rate. I live in an Midwestern industrial city, the factories often have open calls. We were using immigration for labor liquidity, though that seems to be now out the window.

Where do you get that number? It looks more like 16+%.

Our 462 billion in trade, divided by their 19.23 trillion economy, that is 2.4%. Cut off it would hurt them, they could still keep going, however. They are also looking to absorb the trade we cut off through tariffs with other countries. Plus they are also now first trading partner with countries we once were before, such as in Europe.

 

[lynnfredricks]

No. Illegal dyes and lead poisoning. Nothing to do with de minimis. That's an entirely different problem.

That's true, but it is an issue when items get drop shipped directly from China to an end buyer.

 

[Morrus]

That's true, but it is an issue when items get drop shipped directly from China to an end buyer.

It may well be an issue (I don't know how efficient your country's customs screening processes are, but if you're letting in lots of illegal dyes and poisoning people with lead, maybe address that) but it's not this issue or the topic we're discussing in this thread, and is definitely well beyond the bounds of discussion for this site. Let's stay on topic.

 

[lynnfredricks]

Another cost on top of the tariff, and with critical minerals, products; we can't stop importing them. I understand what the idea of why this is being done, it is too little too late, and there are a lot of other tools to accomplish things beyond ham-fisted measures such as these tariffs.

I suspect that for many of those critical minerals, something is in the works. We have become critically reliant on China and that's got to change.

Another problem, we don't have enough workers as is, because of the falling fertility rate. I live in an Midwestern industrial city, the factories often have open calls. We were using immigration for labor liquidity, though that seems to be now out the window.

That really has to be addressed in labor visa reform parallel to improvements in robotics (and AI to drive it).

Our 462 billion in trade, divided by their 19.23 trillion economy, that is 2.4%. Cut off it would hurt them, though not that they could still keep going. They are also looking to absorb the trade we cut off through tariffs with other countries. Plus they are also now first trading partner with countries we once were before, such as in Europe.

Yeah, that makes better sense, rather I was talking about a percentage of their exports. That said, I wouldn't trust any economic numbers reported by the CCP, and it looks like they have sort of given up reporting much of it (even the fairytale figures - WSJ has a report on this but its behind a paywall).