Trump's Tariffs

Trump's Tariffs

Hello Everyone, 

Ray here. I wanted to share some urgent news that affects Mythworks, and the broader tabletop industry. 

As you know, the United States has recently engaged in protectionist policies, enacting a blanket 10% tariffs on all imported goods as well as upwards of 245% tariffs on goods manufactured in China, where the majority of Mythworks goods are manufactured. 

Unfortunately, Mythworks is caught straight in the line of fire for these tariffs. Right now, we have a reprint of Slugblaster: Game of the Year and Slugblaster: Core Rules sitting at our manufacturer’s warehouse. The games are printed, packed, and ready to ship - but stuck in limbo.

Let me break down the numbers:

  • We ordered 6,000 units of the reprint of Slugblaster GOTY

  • Manufacturing cost: just under $30,000, paid earlier this year

  • At a 145% tariff rate (the current estimate for  HS 9903 -  the code used for board games), importing them would cost an additional $43,500

We simply do not have that kind of capital on hand. The suddenly inflated bill created by the added tax is a real threat to our existence.

That is why we have decided to wait and see how the tariff situation shakes out over the next 14-60 days. As of today, the Slugblaster reprint is on hold indefinitely. The crowdfunding campaign for Slugblaster: Slime,  Warp, Solder is also postponed - we don't feel comfortable launching an expansion for a product we cannot currently fulfill.

If/when the tariffs lower to a more reasonable rate, we will execute the freight to bring them to our warehouses in the United States. This is not a choice we wanted to make. 

To the supporters who pre-ordered the Slugblaster reprint, I am sorry. 

We will do our best to keep apprised of the situation, and are already exploring options like freighting orders directly to Canada to fulfill orders made from there. We hope that the situation will improve in the days ahead. We can absorb some tariffs, but the current trajectory of 100%+  is absolutely untenable. 

We believe these tariffs are devastating not only to us, but to small businesses across the country. In many ways, the tabletop industry is the canary in the coal mine. If these policies remain in place, the ripple effects will be vast, touching every part of the economy, and threatening the very structure that holds us together.

I still believe—I hope—that cooler heads will prevail. That the people in charge will see just how destructive these tariffs are. And that they’ll act before lasting damage is done.

Until then, we’re doing everything we can to weather this storm.

Ray

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9 comments

For everyone saying that books are exempt from the tariffs: this is speculation. No one will know for sure how their game will be classified until the customs agent makes a decision, which is quite a risk. The fact that Slugblaster comes in a box with dice makes it even more likely to be classified as a game, not a book. This is a bad situation for everyone involved and I think a 60 day pause to wait and see is the only choice small companies like Myth Works can make. According to this post, it’s a delay, not a cancellation.

Steven

Apparently books are exempt from the tariffs. As this is a book order, will we be receiving the books we paid for?

Sarianna

Sorry to hear this is affecting you guys. What does this mean for our Slugblaster order, though? It wasn’t a small amount of money we paid for it… the price of the reprint was actually a significant amount of money to me. Will we still receive them? Or will our money be refunded?

Sarianna

Thanks for letting us know and I’m so sorry you’re going through this. These tariffs are affecting a lot of businesses I like and support. I’m happy to wait for the physical version. The PDF is definitely enough to be getting on with for now.

Fab

I’m not sure I entirely understand this decision. It’s been made clear that books are exempt from the tariffs and shouldn’t be dispatched using the board game code anyway – simply use 49019900. What is it about the Slugblaster reprint that makes it classed as a board game?

In addition there is a market in Europe, and you could get the books sent there.

James Graham

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