California board game company moves to get products out of China with tariffs set to drop
SACRAMENTO — A Northern California businessman is making moves to get his company's products out of China and to the U.S. now that import tariffs are set to drop to 30% starting Wednesday.
Price Johnson is the COO of Cephalofair Games. The company makes board games, including Gloomhaven and Frosthaven.
The recent Trump administration trade deal to pause 145% tariffs and bring them down to 30% for the next 90 days has Johnson making moves to get his product out of a Shanghai warehouse and back to the US.
"I'm talking to my freight partners. Half of them are telling me, 'I'm sorry. Check again tomorrow. Everything's in chaos right now and changing hour by hour,' " Johnson said.
Johnson said that the sudden change in tariffs has led to a surge in cargo shipping costs.
"It's going to require very quick and very thorough cost projections," Johnson said.
UC Davis Economics Professor Ina Simonovska says the stop-and-go trade turbulence will likely force businesses to pass higher prices to consumers no matter where the tariffs land.
"Everything comes down to uncertainty," Simonovska said. "Basically, if I were shopping, I would be shopping now rather than in a couple of months. Let's put it that way."
For Johnson and his game-making company, he says his next move puts him in a no-win situation.
"Yeah, the tariff crisis is reduced, right, but now the freight crisis expands," Johnson said. "The rest of this financial year has been decimated for us."
Johnson has already put himself on a partial furlough within the company.
He said that at the current 30% tariff rate, his company will be paying $300,000 just to import his products.
