Latest news with #Woldenberg
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CEO says he's suing Trump to halt tariffs as the "path is catastrophic"
Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg thinks the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs will be catastrophic for both his family-owned toy business and for the broader U.S. economy. That's why he's suing President Trump. Woldenberg's business has 500 employees and sells thousands of learning-based toys like Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register. Its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accuses Mr. Trump and other members of his administration of overreaching the president's authority in imposing the broad-based import duties. Congress has historically held the power to authorize new tariffs or make trade deals with other nations. With the administration's higher tariffs in place, the math is dire for Learning Resources, Woldenberg said. The company's import duties are set to increase from $2.3 million prior to the Trump administration to $100 million — a roughly 4,000% increase, he said. "This path is catastrophic" At the same time, Woldenberg said he expects his company's sales to drop 25% this year as consumers scale back spending due to the economic impact of the tariffs. Prior to Mr. Trump's trade war, the CEO had forecast an 8% increase in sales. Economists on Wall Street say the tariffs will slow U.S. economic growth while boosting inflation. "This path is catastrophic," Woldenberg told CBS MoneyWatch. "Forces have been unleashed in the economy — the world economy as well as the U.S. economy — that will have consequences that will be irreparable." Learning Resources' suit asks the court to find that Mr. Trump's tariffs are unlawful and to block the administration from collecting the levies. Based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, Learning Resources is a private, family-owned business founded in 1984. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit or the company's financial challenges caused by the tariffs. For now, Woldenberg said he's focused on figuring out how to shift manufacturing out of China, where about 60% of his products are produced. Goods imported from that nation are now facing U.S. tariffs of 145%. Because tariffs are paid by the companies that import the products, Woldenberg's business — not China — is on the hook for paying for Mr. Trump's high import duties. One question facing Woldenberg is whether he can shift production out of China fast enough to keep ahead of Mr. Trump's tariffs. In recent years, Learning Resources has added factories in India and Vietnam, but that effort has only moved the needle so far, he said. "In a two- or three-year period we moved 16% of our product from China to those markets and got things going," Woldenberg said. "That took a lot of effort, cost us a couple million dollars, at least, in out-of-pocket expenses to move it from Point A to Point B, and a huge amount of man hours on our side to essentially redevelop all those products." Despite that effort, however, the company has to date moved only about 16% of its manufacturing capacity out of China to other countries, Woldenberg said. Reshoring realities Mr. Trump maintains that tariffs will revive the domestic manufacturing sector because the costs of the import taxes will spur both American and foreign businesses to reshore their factories to the U.S. But economists — and Woldenberg — are skeptical, pointing out that such a shift would require committing hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars to building and expanding U.S. factories. "The fact that [Mr. Trump] believes in it is something that I think is irrelevant — there are people that believe in ghosts, OK?" Woldenberg said. Learning Resources' financial resources aren't deep enough to build its own factory, Woldenberg said. He noted that he's also tried to find plants in the U.S. that could make some of his products because he believed toys with a "Made in USA" label could appeal to some customers. "If we had six to 10 products that were made in America, we could go and say, 'Look! Made in America. You want made in America? Here's Made in America," he said. "We can't even find somebody to make six or 10 products." The reason, he said, is U.S. manufacturers don't have the capability to make the types of products he's selling, while the costs of manufacturing them himself would be prohibitive. "I cannot produce a factory that can produce our product at a competitive price," Woldenberg said. To be sure, some businesses have announced plans to build new U.S. plants or hire more workers in recent months. They include tech giant Apple, which in February said that it's committed to spending more than $500 billion on expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities over four years. But Apple "is in a different stratosphere than me," Woldenberg noted. "They also have like a dozen products. We have 2,000." Skittish workers Meantime, Woldenberg said he's committed to keeping his 500 workers employed, likening the current challenges to those his business faced during the pandemic. Now, as then, his employees are worried about the impact of Mr. Trump's trade war and whether their jobs might be at risk, he said. "Two days before we were kicked out of our office in March of 2020, I had an all-company meeting and I said, 'We define this as a community problem ... the goal is to get everybody across the river.' And we did that," he said. "No one lost an hour of pay." Woldenberg added, "I have a very strong commitment to getting them through this, and it's unwavering, and I'll do everything that I can." Even so, Woldenberg wants to see the Trump administration drop their tariff plans. "They should go back to the way things were on January 19th and figure out another plan. This one is not working," he said. Russian foreign minister on latest Kyiv strikes: "We only target military goals" Judge halts own order demanding Kilmar Abrego Garcia updates Stocks wrap up week of gains as tariff uncertainty continues
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
A CEO with 500 workers explains why he's suing Trump over tariffs: "This path is catastrophic"
Learning Resources CEO Rick Woldenberg thinks the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs will be catastrophic for both his family-owned toy business and for the broader U.S. economy. That's why he's suing President Trump. Woldenberg's business has 500 employees and sells thousands of learning-based toys like Spike the Fine Motor Hedgehog and the Pretend & Play Calculator Cash Register. Its lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accuses Mr. Trump and other members of his administration of overreaching the president's authority in imposing the broad-based import duties. Congress has historically held the power to authorize new tariffs or make trade deals with other nations. With the administration's higher tariffs in place, the math is dire for Learning Resources, Woldenberg said. The company's import duties are set to increase from $2.3 million prior to the Trump administration to $100 million — a roughly 4,000% increase, he said. "This path is catastrophic" At the same time, Woldenberg said he expects his company's sales to drop 25% this year as consumers scale back spending due to the economic impact of the tariffs. Prior to Mr. Trump's trade war. the CEO had forecast an 8% increase in sales. Economists on Wall Street say the tariffs will slow U.S. economic growth while boosting inflation. "This path is catastrophic," Woldenberg told CBS MoneyWatch. "Forces have been unleashed in the economy — the world economy as well as the U.S. economy — that will have consequences that will be irreparable." Learning Resources' suit asks the court to find that Mr. Trump's tariffs are unlawful and to block the administration from collecting the levies. Based in Vernon Hills, Illinois, Learning Resources is a private, family-owned business founded in 1984. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the suit or the company's financial challenges caused by the tariffs. CEO Rick Woldenberg's company, toymaker Learning Resources, is suing the Trump administration to halt its wide-ranging tariffs. Learning Resources For now, Woldenberg said he's focused on figuring out how to shift manufacturing out of China, where about 60% of his products are produced. Goods imported from that nation are now facing U.S. tariffs of 145%. Because tariffs are paid by the companies that import the products, Woldenberg's business — not China — is on the hook for paying for Mr. Trump's high import duties. One question facing Woldenberg is whether he can shift production out of China fast enough to keep ahead of Mr. Trump's tariffs. In recent years, Learning Resources has added factories in India and Vietnam, but that effort has only moved the needle so far, he said. "In a two- or three-year period we moved 16% of our product from China to those markets and got things going," Woldenberg said. "That took a lot of effort, cost us a couple million dollars, at least, in out-of-pocket expenses to move it from Point A to Point B, and a huge amount of man hours on our side to essentially redevelop all those products." Despite that effort, however, the company has to date moved only about 16% of its manufacturing capacity out of China to other countries, Woldenberg said. Reshoring realities Mr. Trump maintains that tariffs will revive the domestic manufacturing sector because the costs of the import taxes will spur both American and foreign businesses to reshore their factories to the U.S. But economists — and Woldenberg — are skeptical, pointing out that such a shift would require committing hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars to building and expanding U.S. factories. "The fact that [Mr. Trump] believes in it is something that I think is irrelevant — there are people that believe in ghosts, OK?" Woldenberg said. Learning Resources' financial resources aren't deep enough to build its own factory, Woldenberg said. He noted that he's also tried to find plants in the U.S. that could make some of his products because he believed toys with a "Made in USA" label could appeal to some customers. "If we had six to 10 products that were made in America, we could go and say, 'Look! Made in America. You want made in America? Here's Made in America," he said. "We can't even find somebody to make six or 10 products." Spike, one of Learning Resources' 2,000 products aimed at everything from helping children learn counting to developing fine motor skills. About 60% of Learning Resources' products are manufactured in China. Learning Resources The reason, he said, is U.S. manufacturers don't have the capability to make the types of products he's selling, while the costs of manufacturing them himself would be prohibitive. "I cannot produce a factory that can produce our product at a competitive price," Woldenberg said. To be sure, some businesses have announced plans to build new U.S. plants or hire more workers in recent months. They include tech giant Apple, which in February said that it's committed to spending more than $500 billion on expanding its U.S. manufacturing capabilities over four years. But Apple "is in a different stratosphere than me," Woldenberg noted. "They also have like a dozen products. We have 2,000." Skittish workers Meantime, Woldenberg said he's committed to keeping his 500 workers employed, likening the current challenges to those his business faced during the pandemic. Now, as then, his employees are worried about the impact of Mr. Trump's trade war and whether their jobs might be at risk, he said. "Two days before we were kicked out of our office in March of 2020, I had an all-company meeting and I said, 'We define this as a community problem ... the goal is to get everybody across the river.' And we did that," he said. "No one lost an hour of pay." Woldenberg added, "I have a very strong commitment to getting them through this, and it's unwavering, and I'll do everything that I can." Even so, Woldenberg wants to see the Trump administration drop their tariff plans. "They should go back to the way things were on January 19th and figure out another plan. This one is not working," he said.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's China tariff shocks US importers. One CEO calls it 'end of days'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rick Woldenberg thought he had come up with a sure-fire plan to protect his Chicago-area educational toy company from President Donald Trump's massive new taxes on Chinese imports. "When he announced a 20% tariff, I made a plan to survive 40%, and I thought I was being very clever," said Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, a third-generation family business that has been manufacturing in China for four decades. "I had worked out that for a very modest price increase, we could withstand 40% tariffs, which was an unthinkable increase in costs." His worst-case scenario wasn't worst-case enough. Not even close. The American president quickly upped the ante with China, raising the levy to 54% to offset what he said were China's unfair trade practices. Then, enraged when China retaliated with tariffs of its own, he upped the levies to a staggering 145%. Woldenberg reckons that will push Learning Resource's tariff bill from $2.3 million last year to $100.2 million in 2025. 'I wish I had $100 million,' he said. 'Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days.' 'Addicted' to low-price Chinese goods It might at least be the end of an era of inexpensive consumer goods in America. For four decades, and especially since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Americans have relied on Chinese factories for everything from smartphones to Christmas ornaments. As tensions between the world's two biggest economies — and geopolitical rivals — have risen over the past decade, Mexico and Canada have supplanted China as America's top source of imported goods and services. But China is still No. 3 — and second behind Mexico in goods alone — and continues to dominate in many categories. China produces 97% of America's imported baby carriages, 96% of its artificial flowers and umbrellas, 95% of its fireworks, 93% of its children's coloring books and 90% of its combs, according to a report from the Macquarie investment bank. Over the years, U.S. companies have set up supply chains that depend on thousands of Chinese factories. Low tariffs greased the system. As recently as January 2018, U.S. tariffs on China averaged just over 3%, according to Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'American consumers created China,' said Joe Jurken, founder of the ABC Group in Milwaukee, which helps U.S. businesses manage supply chains in Asia. 'American buyers, the consumers, got addicted to cheap pricing. And the brands and the retailers got addicted to the ease of buying from China." Slower growth and higher prices Now Trump, demanding that manufacturers return production to the U.S., is swinging a tariff sledgehammer at the American importers and the Chinese factories they rely on. 'The consequences of tariffs at this scale could be apocalyptic at many levels," said David French, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Retail Foundation. The Yale University Budget Lab estimates the tariffs that Trump has announced globally since taking office would lower U.S. economic growth by 1.1 percentage points in 2025. The tariffs are also likely to push up prices. The University of Michigan's survey of consumer sentiment, out Friday, found Americans expect long-term inflation to reach 4.4%, up from 4.1% last month. "Inflation's going up in the United States," said Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and now at Yale Law School's China Center. 'Consumers have figured this out as well." 'No business can run on uncertainty' It's not just the size of Trump's tariffs that has businesses bewildered and scrambling; it's the speed and the unpredictability with which the president is rolling them out. On Wednesday, the White House said the tariffs on China would hit 125%. A day later, it corrected that: No, the tariffs would be 145%, including a previously announced 20% to pressure China to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. China in turn has imposed a 125% tariff on the U.S. effective Saturday. 'There is so much uncertainty,' said Isaac Larian, the founder of MGA Entertainment, which makes L.O.L. and Bratz dolls, among other toys. 'And no business can run on uncertainty.' His company gets 65% of its product from Chinese factories, a share he is trying to winnow down to 40% by the end of the year. MGA also manufactures in India, Vietnam and Indonesia, but Trump is threatening to levy heavy tariffs on those countries, too, after delaying them for 90 days. Larian estimates the price of Bratz dolls could go from $15 to $40 and L.O.L. dolls could double to $20 by this year's holiday season. Even his Little Tikes brand, which is made in Ohio, is not immune. Little Tikes depends on screws and other parts from China. Larian figures the price for its toy cars could rise to $90 from a suggested retail price of $65. MGA would likely cut orders for the fourth quarter because he is worried that higher prices will scare off consumers, he said. Calling off China production plans Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois, invested millions of dollars of his own money to develop $1,000 ergonomic chairs, which were to start production in China next month. Now he is delaying production while exploring markets outside the U.S., including Germany and Italy, where his chairs would not face Trump's triple-digit tariffs. He said he wants to see how the situation plays out. He had looked for ways to make the chairs in the U.S. and had discussions with potential suppliers in Michigan, but the costs would have been 25% to 30% higher. "They didn't have the skilled labor to do this stuff, and they didn't have the desire to do it,' Rosenberg said. Making Chinese imports go 'kaput' Woldenberg's company in Vernon Hills, Illinois, has been in the family since 1916. It was started by his grandfather as a laboratory supply company and evolved over the years into Learning Resources. The company specializes in educational toys such as Botley: The Coding Robot and the brainteaser Kanoodle. It employs about 500 people — 90% in the U.S. — and makes about 2,400 products in China. Woldenberg is reeling from the size and suddenness of Trump's tariffs. 'The products I make in China, about 60% of what I do, become economically unviable overnight,' he said. "In an instant, snap of a finger, they're kaput." He described Trump's call for factories to return to the U.S. as 'a joke." 'I have been looking for American manufacturers for a long time ... and I have come up with zero companies to partner with,' he said. The tariffs, unless they are reduced or eliminated, will wipe out thousands of small Chinese suppliers, Woldenberg predicted. That would spell disaster for companies like his that have installed expensive tools and molds in Chinese factories, he said. The stand to lose not only their manufacturing base but also possibly their tools, which could get caught up in bankruptcies in China. Learning Resources has about 10,000 molds, weighing collectively more than 5 million pounds (2.2 million kilograms), in China. 'It's not like you just bring in a canvas bag, zip it up and walk out,' Woldenberg said. 'There is no idle manufacturing hub standing fully equipped, full of engineers and qualified people waiting for me to show up with 10,000 molds to make 2,000 products." ___ This story has been corrected to indicate MGA Entertainment manufactures in Indonesia, not Cambodia. ___ D'Innocenzio reported from New York.
Los Angeles Times
13-04-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Trump's China tariff shocks U.S. importers. One CEO calls it ‘end of days'
WASHINGTON — Rick Woldenberg thought he had come up with a surefire plan to protect his Chicago-area educational toy company from President Trump's massive new taxes on Chinese imports. 'When he announced a 20% tariff, I made a plan to survive 40%, and I thought I was being very clever,' said Woldenberg, chief executive of Learning Resources, a third-generation family business that has been manufacturing in China for four decades. 'I had worked out that for a very modest price increase, we could withstand 40% tariffs, which was an unthinkable increase in costs.' His worst-case scenario wasn't worst-case enough. The American president quickly upped the ante with China, raising the levy to 54% to offset what he said were China's unfair trade practices. Then, enraged when China retaliated with tariffs of its own, he upped the levies to 145%. Woldenberg reckons that will push Learning Resource's tariff bill from $2.3 million last year to $100.2 million in 2025. 'I wish I had $100 million,' he said. 'Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days.' It might at least be the end of an era of inexpensive consumer goods in the U.S. For four decades, and especially since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Americans have relied on Chinese factories for smartphones, Christmas ornaments and a multitude of other goods. As tensions between the world's two biggest economies — and geopolitical rivals — have risen over the last decade, Mexico and Canada have supplanted China as America's top source of imported goods and services. But China is still No. 3 — and second behind Mexico in goods alone — and continues to dominate in many categories. China produces 97% of America's imported baby carriages, 96% of its artificial flowers and umbrellas, 95% of its fireworks, 93% of its children's coloring books and 90% of its combs, according to a report from the Macquarie investment bank. Over the years, U.S. companies have set up supply chains that depend on thousands of Chinese factories. Low tariffs greased the system. As recently as January 2018, U.S. tariffs on China averaged just over 3%, according to Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'American consumers created China,' said Joe Jurken, founder of the ABC Group in Milwaukee, which helps U.S. businesses manage supply chains in Asia. 'American buyers, the consumers, got addicted to cheap pricing. And the brands and the retailers got addicted to the ease of buying from China.' Now Trump, demanding that manufacturers return production to the United States, is swinging a tariff sledgehammer at the American importers and the Chinese factories they rely on. 'The consequences of tariffs at this scale could be apocalyptic at many levels,' said David French, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Retail Foundation. The Yale University Budget Lab estimates that the tariffs that Trump has announced globally since taking office would lower U.S. economic growth by 1.1 percentage points in 2025. The tariffs are also likely to push up prices. The University of Michigan's survey of consumer sentiment, out Friday, found that Americans expect long-term inflation to reach 4.4%, up from 4.1% last month. 'Inflation's going up in the United States,' said Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and now at Yale Law School's China Center. 'Consumers have figured this out as well.' It's not just the size of Trump's tariffs that has businesses bewildered and scrambling; it's the speed and the unpredictability with which the president is rolling them out. On Wednesday, the White House said the tariffs on China would hit 125%. A day later, the tariffs would be 145%, including a previously announced 20% to pressure China to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States. China in turn imposed a 125% tariff on the U.S., effective Saturday. 'There is so much uncertainty,' said Isaac Larian, the founder of MGA Entertainment, which makes L.O.L. and Bratz dolls, among other toys. 'And no business can run on uncertainty.' His company gets 65% of its product from Chinese factories, a share he is trying to winnow down to 40% by the end of the year. MGA also manufactures in India, Vietnam and Cambodia, but Trump is threatening to levy heavy tariffs on those countries, too, after delaying them for 90 days. Larian estimates that Bratz dolls could go from $15 to $40 and that L.O.L. dolls could double in price to $20 by this year's holiday season. Even his Little Tikes brand, which is made in Ohio, is not immune. Little Tikes depends on screws and other parts from China. Larian figures the price for its toy cars could rise to $90 from a suggested retail price of $65. He said MGA would probably cut orders for the fourth quarter because he is worried that higher prices will scare off consumers. Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of the Edge Desk in Deerfield, Ill., invested millions of dollars of his own money to develop $1,000 ergonomic chairs, which were to start production in China next month. Now's he's delaying production while exploring markets outside the U.S., including Germany and Italy, where his chairs wouldn't face Trump's triple-digit tariffs. He said he wants to see how the situation plays out. He had looked for ways to make the chairs in the United States and had discussions with potential suppliers in Michigan, but the costs would have been 25% to 30% higher. 'They didn't have the skilled labor to do this stuff, and they didn't have the desire to do it,' Rosenberg said. Woldenberg's company in Vernon Hills, Ill., has been in the family since 1916. It was started by his grandfather as a laboratory supply company and evolved over the years into Learning Resources. The company specializes in educational toys such as Botley: The Coding Robot and the brainteaser Kanoodle. It employs about 500 people — 90% in the United States — and makes about 2,400 products in China. Woldenberg is reeling from the size and suddenness of Trump's tariffs. 'The products I make in China, about 60% of what I do, become economically unviable overnight,' he said. 'In an instant, snap of a finger, they're kaput.' He described Trump's call for factories to return to the United States as 'a joke.' 'I have been looking for American manufacturers for a long time ... and I have come up with zero companies to partner with,' he said. The tariffs, unless they're reduced or eliminated, will wipe out thousands of small Chinese suppliers, Woldenberg predicted. That would spell disaster for companies like his that have installed expensive tools and molds in Chinese factories, he said. They stand to lose not only their manufacturing base but also possibly their tools, which could get caught up in bankruptcies in China. Learning Resources has about 10,000 molds, weighing collectively more than 5 million pounds, in China. 'It's not like you just bring in a canvas bag, zip it up and walk out,' Woldenberg said. 'There is no idle manufacturing hub standing fully equipped, full of engineers and qualified people waiting for me to show up with 10,000 molds to make 2,000 products.' Wiseman and D'Innocenzio write for the Associated Press.
Arab News
12-04-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Trump's China tariff shocks US importers. One CEO calls it ‘end of days'
WASHINGTON: Rick Woldenberg thought he had come up with a sure-fire plan to protect his Chicago-area educational toy company from President Donald Trump's massive new taxes on Chinese imports. 'When he announced a 20 percent tariff, I made a plan to survive 40 percent, and I thought I was being very clever,' said Woldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, a third-generation family business that has been manufacturing in China for four decades. 'I had worked out that for a very modest price increase, we could withstand 40 percent tariffs, which was an unthinkable increase in costs.' His worst-case scenario wasn't worst-case enough. Not even close. The American president quickly upped the ante with China, raising the levy to 54 percent to offset what he said were China's unfair trade practices. Then, enraged when China retaliated with tariffs of its own, he upped the levies to a staggering 145 percent. Woldenberg reckons that will push Learning Resource's tariff bill from $2.3 million last year to $100.2 million in 2025. 'I wish I had $100 million,' he said. 'Honest to God, no exaggeration: It feels like the end of days.' 'Addicted' to low-price Chinese goods It might at least be the end of an era of inexpensive consumer goods in America. For four decades, and especially since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, Americans have relied on Chinese factories for everything from smartphones to Christmas ornaments. As tensions between the world's two biggest economies — and geopolitical rivals — have risen over the past decade, Mexico and Canada have supplanted China as America's top source of imported goods and services. But China is still No. 3 — and second behind Mexico in goods alone — and continues to dominate in many categories. China produces 97 percent of America's imported baby carriages, 96 percent of its artificial flowers and umbrellas, 95 percent of its fireworks, 93 percent of its children's coloring books and 90 percent of its combs, according to a report from the Macquarie investment bank. Over the years, American companies have set up supply chains that depend on thousands of Chinese factories. Low tariffs greased the system. As recently as January 2018, US tariffs on China averaged just over 3 percent, according to Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'American consumers created China,' said Joe Jurken, founder of the ABC Group in Milwaukee, which helps US businesses manage supply chains in Asia. 'American buyers, the consumers, got addicted to cheap pricing. And the brands and the retailers got addicted to the ease of buying from China.' Slower growth and higher prices Now Trump, demanding that manufacturers return production to America, is swinging a tariff sledgehammer at the American importers and the Chinese factories they rely on. 'The consequences of tariffs at this scale could be apocalyptic at many levels,' said David French, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Retail Foundation. The Yale University Budget Lab estimates that the tariffs that Trump has announced globally since taking office would lower US economic growth by 1.1 percentage points in 2025. The tariffs are also likely to push up prices. The University of Michigan's survey of consumer sentiment, out Friday, found that Americans expect long-term inflation to reach 4.4 percent, up from 4.1 percent last month. 'Inflation's going up in the United States,' said Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and now at Yale Law School's China Center. 'Consumers have figured this out as well.' 'No business can run on uncertainty' It's not just the size of Trump's tariffs that has businesses bewildered and scrambling; it's the speed and the unpredictability with which the president is rolling them out. On Wednesday, the White House said the tariffs on China would hit 125 percent. A day later, it corrected that: No, the tariffs would be 145 percent, including a previously announced 20 percent to pressure China to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States. China in turn has imposed a 125 percent tariff on the US effective Saturday. 'There is so much uncertainty,' said Isaac Larian, the founder of MGA Entertainment, which makes L.O.L. and Bratz dolls, among other toys. 'And no business can run on uncertainty.' His company gets 65 percent of its product from Chinese factories, a share he is trying to winnow down to 40 percent by the end of the year. MGA also manufactures in India, Vietnam and Cambodia, but Trump is threatening to levy heavy tariffs on those countries, too, after delaying them for 90 days. Larian estimates that the price of Bratz dolls could go from $15 to $40 and that of L.O.L. dolls could double to $20 by this year's holiday season. Even his Little Tikes brand, which is made in Ohio, is not immune. Little Tikes depends on screws and other parts from China. Larian figures the price for its toy cars could rise to $90 from a suggested retail price of $65. He said MGA would likely cut orders for the fourth quarter because he is worried that higher prices will scare off consumers. Calling off China production plans Marc Rosenberg, founder and CEO of The Edge Desk in Deerfield, Illinois, invested millions of dollars of his own money to develop $1,000 ergonomic chairs, which were to start production in China next month. Now's he's delaying production while exploring markets outside the US, including Germany and Italy, where his chairs wouldn't face Trump's triple-digit said he wants to see how the situation plays out. He had looked for ways to make the chairs in the United States and had discussions with potential suppliers in Michigan, but the costs would have been 25 percent to 30 percent higher. 'They didn't have the skilled labor to do this stuff, and they didn't have the desire to do it,' Rosenberg said. Making Chinese imports go 'kaput' Woldenberg's company in Vernon Hills, Illinois, has been in the family since 1916. It was started by his grandfather as a laboratory supply company and evolved over the years into Learning Resources. The company specializes in educational toys such as Botley: The Coding Robot and the brainteaser Kanoodle. It employs about 500 people — 90 percent in the United States — and makes about 2,400 products in China. Woldenberg is reeling from the size and suddenness of Trump's tariffs. 'The products I make in China, about 60 percent of what I do, become economically unviable overnight,' he said. 'In an instant, snap of a finger, they're kaput.' He described Trump's call for factories to return to the United States as 'a joke.' 'I have been looking for American manufacturers for a long time ... and I have come up with zero companies to partner with,' he said. The tariffs, unless they're reduced or eliminated, will wipe out thousands of small Chinese suppliers, Woldenberg predicted. That would spell disaster for companies like his that have installed expensive tools and molds in Chinese factories, he said. The stand to lose not only their manufacturing base but also possibly their tools, which could get caught up in bankruptcies in China. Learning Resources has about 10,000 molds, weighing collectively more than 5 million pounds, in China. 'It's not like you just bring in a canvas bag, zip it up and walk out,' Woldenberg said. 'There is no idle manufacturing hub standing fully equipped, full of engineers and qualified people waiting for me to show up with 10,000 molds to make 2,000 products.'
