Don't want this to go political, but it looks like we'll be paying 10% more for figures in the near future
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politic...e-canada-mexico-25-tariff-goods-taking-office
I looked through this article and I'm having doubts as to its validity, but based on the logic reported I guess it could be in at least some ways accurate.
This issue being that tariffs are almost always reserved for large commodity type imports that directly compete with domestically produced commodities and products. They are used when certain countries make it difficult or impossible for US goods to be sold in those countries in a way that allows for fair competition. So, tariffs are a way of "leveling the playing field" so that US producers are not so heavily disadvantaged in the world market.
So, under that model, our little dollies would never rise to the level of threating any real US commerce since they are just about ZERO US companies that directly compete with, or produce merchandise that compares to our favorite high-end 1/6 scale collectibles. Safe to say just about 100% of those are produced abroad.
Now that's the traditional model. And our incoming Chief Executive is nothing if not non-traditional (and many would argue that this is the key to his popularity). So, I suppose there's an outside chance that these new tariffs could be, as the article presents, purely punitive in nature having nothing to do with fair competition and everything to do with punishing countries who are deemed to be behaving badly. But even if that's the case, it is only logical to assume that tariffs would only be placed on items that are available domestically, and not on EVERYTHING a certain nation exports to the US, because if there is only one source for a particular product, and that source is China/HK, then the tariffs only hurt the US consumer.
And as much as our experience is that these dollies are budget busting, on the world stage, the revenue they produce is infinitesimal. Tariffs on these goods would be revenue indetectible, and would piss off this Forum! No one wants to endure THAT wrath!
I would also add, that if sweeping and high impact tariffs were in fact imposed, the economies of the target countries would but hurt far worse than that of the United States, and that’s the point. So their first order of purpose is to threaten. Shape up, and start acting in good faith, and stop allowing the import of dangerous drugs, etc. OR we’ll impose these punishing tariffs. The most effective tariff is one that never has to be implemented…