News on the new 145% import taxes on games manufactured in China is rolling in, and we round it up here.
In response to a request for a ruling on a Shadowrun RPG rulebook (see “’Shadowrun’ 35th Anniversary”), the U.S. Customs Service ruled in 2024 that RPG books should be classified as books, not games, for tariff purposes. This is a much more recent ruling than the 1989 and 1991 rulings that held that RPGs were games (see “RPGs May Not Be Exempt“), and provides current guidance. As books, RPG rulebooks are exempt from the new China tariffs, great news for that part of the games business. The ruling only applies to rulebooks when imported separately and does not cover other items needed to play the game, including “…dice, maps, figures and record sheets,” according to the ruling. (Thanks to Maz Hamilton of Rowan, Rook & Decard, who forwarded the link.)
Stonemaier Games is joining a lawsuit “…to challenge the President’s unchecked authority to impose tariffs,” founder Jamey Stegmaier said in a blog post. “We will not stand idly by while our livelihoods—and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the U.S., along with the customers whose pursuit of happiness we hold dear—are treated like pawns in a political game,” he wrote.
“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,” he continued. “For Stonemaier Games alone (a U.S. based company in which all 8 employees are US citizens), that amounts to upcoming tariff payments of nearly $1.5 million.”
Stegmaier offered to connect other affected publishers to the law firm handling the lawsuit.
Stegmaier also announced how Stonemaier is handling their current print runs of games. Those include 200,000 units of Vantage and 57,000 units of Vantage accessories (see “Stonemaier Games Unveils ‘Vantage’“). The company plans to ship non-U.S. orders directly to the destination countries; U.S. copies destined for distribution and direct-to-retailer sales will be held in China for now. Direct-to-consumer copies will be shipped to the U.S.; Stonemaier plans to offer them at the original retail price and give consumers the option to cover the additional tariff cost at check-out.
Stonemaier will ship its restock of Finspan , currently out of print in the U.S., and “…eat most of the tariff cost (which more than doubles our costs) to minimize the impact on distributors, retailers, and consumers,” Stegmaier wrote.
Source: ICV2
