Santa Claus might be able to evade customs checkpoints as he magically smuggles toys into the country for the good boys and girls—but everyone else doing Christmas shopping this year could run into some problems.
Thanks to higher tariffs and other disruptions to global trade, some toys might be more expensive this holiday season. Others might be in short supply, and those that arrive from foreign countries by mail could come with a surprise nastier than a stocking full of coal: an expensive tax bill from the U.S. government.
To the average toy buyer, higher costs are the most visible impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which are taxes applied to goods that enter the United States. Imports from China, where many basic toys and games are made, are now subject to a 30 percent tariff. Unlike during Trump’s first term, when many toys and other basic household items were exempted from the higher tariffs on Chinese goods, there are no carve-outs this time.
Tariffs are meant to reduce imports, and it seems that tariffs on toys are having that effect. Total U.S. toy imports fell by 31 percent in June 2025 compared to the same month a year earlier, after a year-over-year drop of 28 percent during May, according to data from The Toy Association.
The tariffs are affecting toys from other countries, too. Nintendo, the Japanese video game maker, announced in August that it would raise the price of its Switch gaming console by 15 percent in the United States. Officially, Nintendo said it was responding to “market conditions,” but the decision was seemingly in response to the Trump administration slapping 15 percent tariffs on Japanese imports. (Trump has also imposed a 20 percent tariff on imports from Vietnam, where Nintendo does much of its manufacturing.)
The data are clear: “Tariffs are creating serious headwinds for the toy industry and are disrupting the flow of toys into the U.S. market ahead of the crucial holiday season,” says Kathrin Belliveau, chief policy officer at The Toy Association. “Without relief, we risk seeing fewer products on store shelves, higher costs for families, and lasting strain on the businesses that bring play to children.”
Trump tried to downplay the impact of those new levies shortly after they were announced earlier this year. “Maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls,” Trump told reporters at the White House in April. He added that the two dolls might “cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”
Only a Grinch could celebrate that.
This article originally appeared in print under the headline “Will Tariffs Steal Christmas?.”
