Surely we are all wondering what the new Trump Tariffs on China will mean for retail prices. Hasbro CEO Chris Cox was on Yahoo! Finance recently talking about how the Trump Tariffs impact prices. He says it could eventually mean higher toy prices coming soon.
"I think for the toy category it's probably months," Hasbro (HAS) CEO Chris Cocks on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast, referencing when toy prices would go up as a result of fresh tariffs from the Trump administration.
The interviewer actually presents the award winning ONE Power Flip Optimus Prime figure, and asks how Hasbro keeps the toys a "profitable venture for a company". The Hasbro CEO responds with a long list of ways they have to work with the tariffs. Which he openly says will ultimately be passed on to the consumer. However, he says Hasbro prefer to minimize tariffs to benefit consumers by keeping their products affordable.
For keeping prices down, Hasbro can look into various options for cost reduction including looking outside China, at countries like Vietnam and Indonesia. They can also negotiate lower production costs, consolidate vendors, optimize product designs, and make more high-end toys that appeal to many demographics. Which is stated may reduce the features consumers don't usually notice in their products.
The article goes on to talk about the cost of making toys in the USA would be 50% more due to the lacking plastics industry supply chain, that was exported to Asia decades ago. Read the entire article with video interview with Hasbro CEO Chris Cox now on finance.yahoo.com