Doll Wars: Episode 1

Like many industries, sellers of toys have petitioned the Trump Administration for a break on the tariffs he’s been imposing on a global scale. On April 28, The Toy Association put out a news release “urging the U.S. government to grant an immediate reprieve from tariffs on toys imported from China, so that toys are available on retail shelves and available for the holiday season. Beyond this short-term need, The Toy Association is also advocating for a longer-term solution, urging U.S. leaders to secure ‘zero for zero’ tariffs on toys through bilateral negotiations with trading partners.”

Two days later an apparent response to such concerns came from Trump himself, who said during a Cabinet meeting that higher prices caused by tariffs will mean “children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.”

The Washington Post was among those covering that comment to note that it contained some contradictions:

“People of all ideological stripes, from liberals to conservatives to the late Pope Francis, have cautioned against American overconsumption — and suggested that the world’s richest nation should make do with less,” wrote Post reporter Martine Powers. “But Trump has never come close to espousing such a philosophy, not even in his messaging around his tariff policies, which threaten to raise prices on myriad consumer products, including dolls. In his second term, the president has decorated the Oval Office with gilded accents — and has promised repeatedly, as he did at a political rally in Warren, Mich., to ‘make America wealthy again.’”

As of this posting, the administration had not taken any action on The Toy Association’s request.

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