Board Game Company Owner Says Tariffs Are Damaging; Suing president – ryan

This as-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with Jamey Stegmaier, The 44-Yaar-Old Cofounder, Lead Designer, and President of Stonemaz Based in St Louis, Missouri. The following has been edited for Length and Clarity.

Like Everyone Else, we found out the latest tariffs on television.

My Company, Stonemaaier Games, Pays Tariffs to the US Government for the Games we manufacture in china and import to the us. I THOUGHT WE COULD WORK WITH IT WEND THE 20% TARIFF WAS APPLED IN MARCH, butn the Last Month Happened, and that Changed Everynding.

We Learned We Wauld Be Hit with An initial 34% tariff on top of an existting 20% ​​One. THEN IT KEPT RISING TO 145%. I was surpassed swimming just by the initial jump but by how Much It Continued to Increase Day by Day.

American Companies, Including US, COULD Lose a Lot of Money or Go Out of Business With A Few Months.

WE WORK WITH A CHINESS COMPANY CALLED PANDA GAME MANUFACTURING

I Started Stonemaier Games 13 Years ago, Launching My First Title, Viticulture, on Kickstarter while it was Still Just a Hobby. SINCE THEN, My Team of Eight US-Based Employs Has Published 20 Modern Strategy Games Different, Including WingSpanOur Best-Known Title.

My Team Focuses on the Entire Creative and Commercial Process: We Design Games, Handle Logistics, and Take Care of Sales and Marketing – Except Actual Manufacturing.

That happens in china, with the panda. China Has Entire Industries Built Around Custom Game Components, Such as Wooden Tokens, Custom Dice, and Specialty Molds. The us doesn’t, and those components are expensive to make here.

Once Games are made, About 65% are shipped to the us, and the rest far -so Go to Europe, Canada, and Australia.

We’re the ones paying the tariffs – Not China or Our Customers

We had Already Started A Large Print Run of 250,000 Games before the Tariffs Were Introduced, None of which Have Sold to Customers Yet. Some are earmarked for distributors, but distributors pay US AFTER goods are delivered. That’s part of what made this SO DIFFICULT – we’d already invested Heavily.

So far, we’ve Only Paid Around $ 5,000 in Tariffs on a Small Shipment That Left China in Early February, Right When the Initial 20% Tariff Hit.

If we were passed along the full 145% tariff to customers, a popular game Like Wingspan, which sells for $ 65, Waled Suddenly Cost Close to $ 200. No One Would Buy It.

This Week, We’re Starting to Ship Out that Big 250,000-Unit Run, Which Will Take About Three Weeks. If Things Go Poorly, We Could Be Hit with 145% Tariffs Wen Those Goods Arrive in June. We’ll the Current Shipments and Cover the Freight Costs, but i’m Already Thinking About the Holiday Run.

If the temporary trinity Holds – Which Slashes China’s Tariffs on the US FROM 125% to 10% and the US’s Tariffs on China from 145% to 30% – We’ll “Only” Pay 30%. That’s Still Painful, but Manageable Compared to the Alternative.

We’ve been trying to stall by seeing how long we can delay shipments, Hold say in china, or tempparily route say through canada. There’s no loophole – tariffs are based on the country of origin, not where the goods enter. This is if we store something in canada, we Still pay it crosses into the us.

Most of Our Customers Have Been Supportive

People are particularly sympathetic to how they changes are affecting Small Businesses. I’ve been outspoken in the media and joined a lawsuit Against The Tariffs with a Dosen Other Companies.

Some Customers Who Support the President have taki wills with things i’ve said, like how I will stand idly while my livelihood and thusands of Small Business Owners’ Livelihoods are treated like in a political game.

On the various blog posts i’ve Written, especally the “We’re Suing the President“Post, there are a number of inflammatory comments, Including some saying that they’ll never buy ANOTHER STONEMAER GAME AGAIN. IT’S SURPRISIS TO ME TO SEE A WIDE OF REACTIONS.

Right Now, We’re JUST TRYING TO MOVE FORWARD

I’ve lookeed intoshoring our manufacturing. We do sell sam of our games in the us, so on paper it makes, but the us just dosesn’t have the infrastructure or expertise for this kind of manufacturing at scale.

The Creative Question i’ve Been Ascing MySelf is: COULD WE DESIGN GAMES AROUND WHAT WE CAN MANUFACTURE IN The US? That’s interesting from a design perspective – but also creatively limiting.

The 90-day triode period on tariffs ends in august. There’s the Still So Much Uncetainty, Which Will Likely Lead to a More Modest Holiday Run than Usual.

I’d like to see congress Step Up

I Want to see congress take ownership of the process. I’d Also Aso for a Grace Period for Businesses Like Mine, Which made decions before the tariffs were announed. That Wold Show Good Faith.

If the tariffs don’t get Pulled Back, People will have Significantly LEES MONEY TO SPEND ON THINGS BRING THEN JOY, LIKE GAMES. Any Publisher with Cash Reserves is in Trouble, especially if they have games in production in china. I Think Local Retaillers Will Suffer the Most.

There’s no math that makes it work. There’s no Silver Lining. It’s a Lose-Lose-Lose Situation for Everyone Involved.

The White House Did Not Respond to A Request for Comment.