Hasbro CEO on Trump tariffs: Higher toy prices are looming

Yahoo Finance
14小時前

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A new toy for little Jenny or Joey may be pricier very soon as Trump tariffs ripple through a mostly China-based toy supply chain.

"I think for the toy category it's probably months," Hasbro (HAS) CEO Chris Cocks told me on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (video above). Cocks — in NYC for the 2025 Toy Fair, where it showed off the latest for Monopoly, Play-Doh, and Nerf — was referencing when toy prices would go up as a result of fresh tariffs from the Trump administration. 

The full episode with Cocks will air this Friday.

A new round of tariffs from the Trump administration started Tuesday, with new duties on the United States' top three trading partners: Canada, China, and Mexico.

The president imposed 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican imports following a 30-day pause. He also implemented a second round of 10% duties on Chinese imports after instituting 10% in February.

Watch: Trump tariffs may drill retailers

The targeted countries wasted no time hitting back.

China unveiled a 15% tariff on US chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton products and an additional 10% tariff on sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. The new tariffs from China are set to go into effect on March 10.

Canada announced a 25% levy on CA$30 billion of US imports, effective immediately. Tariffs on another CA$125 billion in goods will begin in 21 days.

Mexico said it would announce retaliatory tariffs on Sunday.

Trump's tariffs could materially impact consumer companies, as a sizable portion of their merchandise is sourced from China due to its low production cost. But tariffs could also stunt demand as consumers balk at price hikes.

The tariffs may reduce American consumers' spending power by $46 billion to $78 billion every year they are in place, estimates the National Retail Federation. 

Already this week, retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Target (TGT), and Best Buy (BBY) have warned on the margin and consumer impacts of tariffs. Shares of all three have been pummeled. 

Nearly 80% of US toys are manufactured in China, according to industry trade group the Toy Association.

Cocks says toy prices would go up 50% in some cases if more production was brought back to the US. The cost increases reflect the intricate nature of making many toys and the difficulty finding the skilled labor to do so. 

Listen: Trump tariffs may trigger stagflationary shock

"There's just this integrated supply chain of all these different component parts. All resin, dough (for Play-Doh), you name it, that are fully optimized over like three decades inside of Southeast Asia. That would just be difficult to replicate in the US," Cocks explained. "My hope is that there's a larger policy goal at play and we'll be able to get to that relatively quickly and we'll be able to get prices down hopefully faster than they'll ultimately rise."

Toy stocks have done surprisingly well in 2025 despite tariff news swirling. Shares of Mattel (MAT) and Hasbro are up 13% and 9.6%, respectively, year to date. Each company has moved aggressively in the last year to slash costs in a bid to boost profit margins and get ahead of Trump's latest trade war.

Three times each week, I field insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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