So should I buy Japanese Pokemon products now before the Trump tariffs? YES.
You absolutely should get your orders in now and I’ll tell you why. The Trump Administration is hellbent on raising tariffs across the board. I don not believe there will be an exception made for toy and games. Tariffs will probably affect America’s allies as well as enemies. It seems that protectionism is back and world trade is going to die.
While I’m going to guess Japan will probably get a 10% tariff across virtually all products instead of the 20% Trump and Gang want, that 10% is still very meaningful. Because that is not likely the price you will experience. You may very well experience a 20% price rise or double the tariffs. This is because it may cost businesses more to comply with the tariff AND because people are not virtuous.
If businesses have wiggle room to raise prices they will do so. Tariffs give them cover to raise their prices because you have no idea what the numbers are for each and every product they sell. You don’t know how much a 75″ TV costs them to make, import, and sell. You don’t even know which specific tariffs that specific product is subject to. It’s a minefield of numbers. You have no idea and businesses will take advantage of that.
So let’s just do the basic math here… if you were planning to spend $300 on Japanese Pokemon product, a 20% increase means you’d be spending $60 more, or $360. Knowing you guys though that’s not all you were planning to spend. So 20% of $1000 gets you $200 extra bucks out of your wallet. Tariffs are meaningful and like I’ve said countries do not pay tariffs the consumer ultimately does.
Let’s just ignore the macroeconomic effects tariffs would have, especially on inflation, and let that math soak in a little bit. All you’re doing is buying shiny cardboard. You’re minding your own dang business, enjoying a hobby, and yet you’re going to pay $200 more for… what? To protect American businesses? The Pokemon Company already has American printers and presumably pays its taxes. You’re just getting a different variety of product from the same company.
Toys and games should be exempt from tariffs. I mean they’re probably not going to be but they should be. I’d prefer to donate eight $5 Monopoly board games to children’s charities during the holidays rather than just two $20 ones. Maybe Mattel and Hasbro will save us all with some good old fashioned Washington DC lobbying… which is a sad thing to be saying…