A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how devastating an impact a 54% tariff on imports from China to the US would be on the particularly vulnerable tabletop gaming industry. Things were already looking pretty apocalyptic at that stage—but, of course, my article was already outdated within days, as the tariffs surged even higher. They currently stand at 145%, changing the outlook for the future from ‘selling board games will be extremely difficult’ to ‘selling board games will be nearly impossible’.
So much so that Stonemaier Games, publisher of smash hit board game Wingspan, is taking the fairly dramatic step of “suing the president” to try and change the course of the tariffs. The announcement doesn’t go into the specifics of the legal action being taken, but it’s a group lawsuit of some kind—and it sounds like a big group. Stonemaier initially invited other publishers to get in touch with them to join the suit, but has since updated the post to say that “the law firm has informed me that they now have as many clients as the case can handle”, though it continues to gather statements via an online form to further support the case.
(Image credit: Stonemaier Games)
The crux of Stonemaier’s argument is that it and other board game publishers ordered print runs of games to be manufactured in China before the tariffs came into effect, and now face unreasonable costs to import the finished products that they couldn’t have planned for ahead of time. It’s currently facing “nearly $1.5 million” in such fees.
