Tariff uncertainty raises concerns at Chicago toy store
President Trump hit the pause button this week on his reciprocal tariffs against most countries — but the tariffs on China are still on.
In Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood, the owner of Timeless Toys at 4749 N. Lincoln Ave. said the move just adds to his uncertainty.
Toy store owner Scott Friedland said when President Trump first signed three executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada, he made the executive decision to buy a large stock of toys — of which a majority come from China.
"You can see, we're stocked up to ceiling," Friedland said as he showed off the toy store's present inventory.
Friedland said his stock room is not, in fact, usually filled to the ceiling. But it is now, he said, because he was forced to buy $200,000 worth of toys due to the trade war between the world's two largest economies.
"About a month or two ago — before the official with all the talks of potential tariffs, knowing that we had the opportunity to do it — we were out at the trade shows for three months, seeing new products," Friedland said, "and we just wanted to get ahead of the curve just in case something happened."
President Trump on Wednesday announced a pause on the planned implementation of higher tariffs for almost all nations late Wednesday — leaving a 10% universal tariff in place. But Mr. Trump said he was raising tariffs on China from 104% to 125%.
As for Friedland, while he just stocked up, he said his orders will only last for so long.
Friedland said his next big order is July, and he is unsure if the order will actually be shipped if the trade wars continue.
"Our plan right now is to order heavily during this time, as much as we can get," Friedland said. "We're going to get it early and we're going to get it often."
His other big concern is the holiday season. In December, there were long lines to buy Christmas gifts at Timeless Toys.
Friedland said he typically buys $500,000 worth of toys just for the holiday season. But he said with everything now going up in price and no knowledge of the timeline for when the tariffs will end, people will be forced to make some choices on how they spend their money.
"We're working really hard to keep toy prices down and keep toys out of all the tariff talk, because this is essential for kids. This is how kids learn. This is how kids develop," Friedland said. "So we're hoping to spread that message, and do everything we can to make sure that the prices stay low for this holiday season."
Friedland said he is on the financial board for ASTRA, the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association. He said the concern about the tariffs is industrywide, and the trade group The Toy Association is pushing to have toys excluded from Chinese tariffs.
"We're already hearing talks about manufacturers not wanting to be in the United States markets because it's cost and efficient for them," he said.
Friedland also said it is not just small business that could feel the impact of the tariffs. He said big companies, like the one that makes LEGOs, will also be impacted because their products are made in the United States and Mexico, but also in China.
