One day after President Donald Trump suggested that American children might only possess two dolls instead of 30, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller agreed with President Trump that Americans would be willing to spend more on toys.
Miller's comments on Thursday come as the White House defends its aggressive tariff policy, with the United States imposing a 145% duty on imports from China. That is in addition to a global 10% import tax and a 25% duty on steel and aluminum imports.
Tariffs are charged to companies importing goods into the U.S. Many companies have said the costs of tariffs would be passed along to consumers.
One of the goals of President Trump's tariff policy is to increase manufacturing in the U.S. The manufacturing industry in the U.S. has lost over 5 million jobs since the start of the century, according to government statistics.
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"The point that I think almost every American consumer agrees with is that if they had a choice… between a doll from China that might have say lead paint in it, that is not as well constructed as a doll made in America that has a higher environmental and regulatory standard and that is made to a higher degree of quality, and those two products are both on Amazon, that yes, you probably would be willing to pay more for a better-made American product," Miller claimed.
On Wednesday, President Trump acknowledged that tariffs could cause toy prices to jump.
“You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open,’” Trump said. “Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls. So maybe the two dolls will cost a couple bucks more than they would normally.”
Miller argued that if companies ramp up manufacturing in the U.S., eventually prices will come back down.
"With the tax cuts, the regulation cuts, the energy price decrease, and everything else that is doing to unleash this era of American prosperity and prevent the road we were on to get off that road of financial ruin and doom means that it will be cheaper than ever to make and manufacture in America," Miller said.
The Toy Association, however, has painted a bleaker picture of the impact tariffs will have on the industry. It says that 50% of small and mid-sized toy companies will go out of business due to tariffs.
The industry group says that among small and mid-sized toy companies, over 80% are expecting to delay orders. An overwhelming majority of these companies are also canceling orders.
