Americans have gotten used to asking certain questions over the last three months. Chief among them: “What the hell is going on?” “Why are they doing this?” “How is this legal?” “Do they want everybody to die?” And, most commonly, “Who’s going to stop this?” Congress, the Supreme Court, the Democrats, Wall Street, and the entire American legal system have all shown little interest or ability in trying to stop the Trump Administration’s non-stop assault on America’s institutions, but one brave organization has stepped forward to defend America. And it’s the people who brought us games like Tokaido and Wingspan.
Stonemaier Games, the tabletop publisher behind Elizabeth Hargrave’s phenomenon Wingspan and its various spinoffs, has joined a lawsuit over Trump’s tariffs. As they explain in a post on their site, the U.S. based company faces almost $1.5 million in tariffs on products they commissioned from their Chinese printing partners before the tariffs were implemented. Trump’s 145% tariffs on products imported from China will force Stonemaier to pay $14.50 on every $10 they spend on manufacturing. In their post Stonemaier makes no bones about who they blame for the tariffs, decrying “the unchecked authority of the executive branch” and claiming companies like theirs are being “treated like pawns in a political game.”
Stonemaier is not alone, of course. Any industry that relies on China is impacted by Trump’s capricious tariffs, and the tabletop business is especially exposed. Pretty much every board game publisher prints their games in China, so the entire tabletop industry faces an existential threat from Trump’s tariffs, with some publishers already pushing pause on all upcoming plans. Others are forced to prioritize markets other than America or leave already-printed or commissioned product in China until the situation is resolved.
Stonemaier will soon have over 250,000 units ready to ship out of China, and most of that will either sit in storage or be sold to other countries. Their statement does note that they’ll continue to restock the currently out-of-print Finspan to the US and also sell the upcoming game Vantage directly to US customers, eating the costs of the tariffs in both cases. Like the rest of the tabletop industry, their future plans will be drastically impacted by Trump’s tariffs, so don’t expect board games to be as affordable or readily available as they’ve been while these tariffs are in effect. And most tabletop publishers aren’t as well-financed or secure as Stonemaier. It could get downright apocalyptic for board game publishers if the tariffs persist for long.
