Less than a week later, President Trump suggested that children may have to make it in time with fewer toys than this year.
“Well, maybe the kids have two dolls instead of 30 dolls?” he said these two dolls “can cost a few dollars more than normal.”
On Monday, US toy company and Barbie maker Mattel said Trump would raise US toy prices with a 145% tariff on imports from China. Mattel, which produces 20% of the US products sold there, said in its first quarter revenue presentation that it aims to reduce it to less than 15% by 2026. He also said it would suspend financial guidance for the year, citing uncertainty about trade and fee policies.
The Chinese factory produces nearly 80% of all toys sold in the US. Several US toy companies say it is likely to raise prices due to tariffs.
The Toy Association, the US industry group representing 850 toy manufacturers, warned that there was probably a shortage before Christmas. A survey of 410 small businesses that make toys found that a majority said they had cancelled their orders, and about half said they risked going out of business within weeks or months if tariffs remained.
Mattel is one of many companies that have suspended this year's financial forecasts, including General Motors, SNAP and UPS, due to Trump's economic policy. “It's too difficult to predict annual consumer spending and US sales given the volatile macroeconomic environment and the evolution of the US tariff situation,” Mattel said.
CFRA Research analyst Zach Warring said Mattel could segregate himself from tariffs by selling more Chinese-made products outside the US. Mattel could also protect margins by increasing prices, but he questioned whether US customers would be happy to pay more, or whether the toys would need to sit on the shelf instead and ultimately discount.
