California-based MGA Entertainment is in a tough spot.
The company supplies a large number toys to Walmart but suddenly finds itself facing tariffs as it largely makes its goods in China. Executives are pushing for price hikes at Walmart to compensate.
“It’s going to hurt the consumer because we have to pass the extra cost to the retailer,” CEO Isaac Larian in an interview with Reuters.
In the meantime, the company is planning to move 40% of its manufacturing to India, Vietnam and Indonesia. The risk is that those countries could also be facing US ire via reciprocal tariffs on April 2. Average Indian rates on US goods are 13-15% with agricultural goods exceeding 100%. Vietnamese tariffs are in the 0-5% while Indonesia is in the 10-15% range but uses many non-tariff barriers.
Chinese factories currently manufacture about 77% of US toys, according to the Toy Association.
What about bringing back the factories to the US?
“There is no way to get American labor to do that tedious work,” Larian said.