Stonemaier Games sues the Trump administration over tariffs and their impact on the tabletop gaming industry.

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• Saucepain@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Since the site keeps getting the hug of death, here’s a transcript.

  We are joining a lawsuit will challenge the President’s unchecked authority to impose tariffs. We will not stand idly by while our livelihoods–and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the US, along with the customers whose pursuit of happiness we hold dear–are treated like pawns in a political game. Like many tabletop publishers (import code 9504.90.6000*), we started print runs of products before the President took office, and now we face an unprecedented $14.50 tariff tax for every $10 we spent on manufacturing with our trusted long-term partner in China. For Stonemaier Games alone (a US based company in which all 8 employees are US citizens), that amounts to upcoming tariff payments of nearly $1.5 million. If the tariffs are damaging your business as well, please contact me at jamey@stonemaier.com and I will connect you with the law firm. There is no cost to join the lawsuit. I try to lead with compassion and empathy, so legal action is very low on my list of ways to handle difficult situations. But with this new norm of a 145% tariff imposed by the President on all exports from China to the US–including products that have been in the manufacturing process for months–we are compelled to take action. Of course, this isn’t the only action we’re taking, as we have 200,000 units of reprints and 50,000 units of Vantage (plus 57,000 other Vantage accessories) ready to ship out of Shenzhen in a few weeks. Here’s what else we’re doing in regards to these fully manufactured products: We’re selling to other countries: Around 35% of our annual sales are to distributors, retailers, and consumers outside of the US. We ship directly from China to those distributors and fulfillment centers, so the tariffs will not impact our prices in those regions. We’re storing the US quantities in China: For now, we will pay for warehousing in China store most of the US-bound products in the hopes that the tariffs will decrease by the time we need that inventory to replenish our supply in the US. We’re sending out-of-stock US quantities to the US: Finspan is out of stock in the US, so we are proceeding to send the restock as scheduled. We will eat most of the tariff cost (which more than doubles our costs) to minimize the impact on distributors, retailers, and consumers. We’re sending direct-sale Vantage to the US: I’ve spent too long trying to make this game affordable that I’m not going to let one person with unchecked power get in the way of me serving my customers. The tariffs may have a slight impact on the US price, but the plan is to largely keep our direct price the same and give customers the option to cover the tariff cost at checkout. The plan to release Vantage to US distribution and retail may need a delay–the lack of margins there have a bigger impact on a new game than on reprints. Again, these strategies are focused on products we have already manufactured, as the tariffs did not carve out a grace period for such products. We are fortunate to have a buffer at Stonemaier Games to weather this storm, and my heart goes out to the many other small businesses–in the US and beyond–who invested their resources in products that they can no longer afford to bring into the US. *There is an article circulating that states incorrectly that tariffs on tabletop games are only 20%. The (unfortunately) correct number is 145%.

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• MellowYellow13@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Man this sucks, Stonemaier Games makes such great board games, my family has been loving them in the recent years, soooo many great board games they’ve quickly become one of our favorites. Trump is the worst.

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• Aielman15@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Obligatory “I’m not American”. I’m a bit confused by this. Can anyone sue the president over an official act? Is that a thing? Didn’t the Supreme Court basically say that he could walk outside, shoot a bystander, go back home and face no consequences?

  As far as I know, lawsuits that involve rich/powerful individuals and another side with way less cash than them is to just postpone the hearing or drag it on long enough for the poorer side to give up or go bankrupt. Even if it actually succeeded, suing the president is something that could be escalated until it gets picked up by the currently right-leaning supreme court, doesn’t it?

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  • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Can anyone sue the president over an official act? Is that a thing?

    No.

    until it gets picked up by the currently right-leaning supreme court, doesn’t it?

    Yes

    But if the government is spending time and effort fighting law suits they’ll have less time to do more horrible things, and might just give up if it’s too much effort.

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  • TAG@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    The article does not get into detail, but I assume Stonemaier Games is going to argue that the President does not have the power to impose this type of tariff. The company is probably hoping that the judge will stay the tariff until the case can be argued. If this only buys the company enough time to refill their US warehouse without paying a tariff, they could come out ahead.

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• AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  For those interested in the topic: Join us at !boardgames@sopuli.xyz

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