Last October-November, I finally launched a Kickstarter campaign to get my game business to the next level. For years, I had been making small batches of games and selling them at local events and online, using a laser-cutter and finishing them by hand.
I was able to make them affordably enough that I could make a small profit on each sale, but with all the expenses of running a business it was a scramble every year. Most years, I either broke even or lost a little, and one year I managed a small profit. But I knew I would not get ahead this way, and I needed to find a way to get my games made by a factory.
In the board game world, just about all games are made overseas. They just are not feasible any other way. So, the Kickstarter, to raise the funds to pay a factory to make the games, was the best option. We succeeded and raised $26,000 on the Kickstarter campaign (minus fees and other costs) and I have been working with a manufacturer on getting my games made.
Throughout the Kickstarter and in the months following, the tariff rate had held steady at 20%. It was a rare period of stability after last year's wild fluctuations that deeply hurt my fellow game designers and small companies. I was able to factor in the 20% tariff into my costs and move forward.
Then last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the president did not have the authority to impose most of the tariffs he had been randomly assigning since assuming office. (Which deeply hurt the business of a fellow game designer whose shipment of games came in at the height of the tariff rates.)
In response, the president announced an additional worldwide tariff of 10%... and then later announced it would go to 15%.
Let me spell out what this means to me and my fellow entrepreneurs who must import goods from overseas.
At 20% tariff, I was expecting to pay an extra $3600 or so.
At a 30% tariff, I would need to pay $5400.
At a 35% tariff, I would need to pay $6300.
And there goes the small amount of profit I had been hoping to make from this project.
And what is the reason for this sudden jump in costs? Nothing, except for a presidential temper tantrum.
So often, the president wields tariffs as if they are a weapon, a punishment against other countries, either for a trade imbalance or for actions or policies he doesn't like.
But the tariffs DO NOT hurt these other countries or these foreign manufacturers. They are not the ones paying the tariffs. American businesses and consumers pay the bill.
Here's the other thing. In the back of my mind, I have been thinking about ways I COULD manufacturer here in Chemung County. It would require a capital investment to get better equipment and the space to use it. Maybe even hire employees. Being able to use the profits from the Kickstarter would go a long way to making that a reality.
But with these unpredictable and excessive tariffs, all that profit just gets siphoned away.
If we really want to encourage manufacturing here in the U.S., we would at first need to bring in the machinery and materials. The excessive tariffs kill small companies before they can even get started. The tariffs needlessly kill innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit.
These are issues that Chemung County government can do little about, but I felt it important to explain why tariffs are so bad for business here.
