Stonemaier Games, the US-based company behind Wingspan and other popular board games, has announced today on its blog that it will be suing the Trump administration over tariffs. The company will be joining many others in a larger lawsuit targeting the tariffs, which Stonemaier Games says will cost it almost $1.5 million in additional payments.
With a tariff on Chinese imports of 145%, Stonemaier is facing an extra $14.50 tariff on every $10 it has spent on manufacturing games with its partner in China–most of them print runs that were ordered before Trump took office. With a new game, Vantage, set to launch in the upcoming months, Stonemaier is in a tough position.
The company has laid out its plans for handling the tariffs, including shipping directly from China to other countries, with sales outside the US making up 35% of its business. Stock destined for the US market will be stored in China for now, in the hope that tariffs will be decreased before it has to be shipped, though where games are out of stock Stonemaier has opted to import as usual and “eat most of the tariff cost (which more than doubles [its] costs) to minimize the impact on distributors, retailers, and consumers.”
“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,” Stonemaier said of upcoming title Vantage. “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 game will only be available directly from Stonemaier for now, with the tariffs impacting plans for further distribution.
“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,” the blog concludes.
Not much has been said about the lawsuit itself, except that the law firm handling it now has as many clients as the case can handle. The firm is keeping a form open to continue to gather supporting information from other small businesses and sole proprietors impacted by the tariffs.
