Updated May 13, 2025 at 10:38 AM PDT
A temporary pause in steep tariffs on Chinese imports has triggered a rush among U.S. companies to ship merchandise while they can. These decreased tariffs, which will remain for 90 days, have made getting goods to the U.S. more financially sound. But the uncertainty surrounding President Trump's trade policies continues to rattle business owners.
Jay Foreman, CEO of Basic Fun!, a company that is known for classic toys like Care Bears and Tonka trucks, told NPR's Morning Edition that the sudden shift from a 145% tariff to a 30% rate felt like a lifeline — but still feeling the pain of paying increased tariff rates.
"When I got the news, it was about 4:30 in the morning," Foreman said. "I literally jumped out of bed, called my factories in China, and started booking trucks and containers. But my operations team reminded me: it's not just a flip of a switch."
The back-and-forth over tariffs has disrupted the company's supply chain, he said, leaving importers scrambling and uncertain about what comes next. The current agreement only lasts 90 days, and there's no clear path forward after that.
While a 30% tariff is more manageable than 145%, Foreman compared it to "drinking spoiled milk instead of poison."
"We can be in business," he said. "But if the burden falls entirely on manufacturers like us, we're in trouble. Everyone — retailers, factories, and consumers — needs to share the pain."
He estimates retail prices could rise 10% to 15%, if everyone in the supply chain absorbs part of the cost. Otherwise, companies with slim margins won't survive.
At the height of the tariff uncertainty, Foreman feared his shelves would be empty during the holidays — a crucial sales window for toymakers. But Foreman remains cautious. If the administration reverses course again, he says the resulting confusion could paralyze the market.
"A 145% tariff would have put us, and many others, out of business," he said. "The 30% tariff at least gets things moving again."
Foreman spoke with NPR's Michel Martin about how shifting U.S and China trade policies – including a temporary tariff rollback – are impacting his business and the broader economy.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Michel Martin: So you got the news that Trump was going to cut the tariff back to 30% from 145%. What did you do?
Jay Foreman: It was about 4:30 in the morning when I got pinged. I literally jumped out of bed, threw some water on my face and started calling my office in Hong Kong and my factories in China to tell them, let's get going. Let's start ordering trucks to pick up at the factories and book space on container ships. And I figured, you know, in my head, I'm trying to think 52,000 feet ahead, we'll just get going and everything will be rolling. And then, of course, I get into the office and my operations team says, wait a minute, it's not that easy just to turn the switch and get everybody going again. There's still a lot of processes that have to happen to really get all these orders back lined up and back in place to get going.
Martin: So 30% tariff is better than 145%. But you were telling me that it's like drinking spoiled milk instead of poison. Very vivid imagery, by the way. Well, why do you say that?
Foreman: The president said everybody's got to endure some short-term pain for some long-term gain. So our feeling is that everybody in the supply chain is going to be willing to take a bit of the burden of this. So the consumers are going to pay a little bit more. The retailer is going to take a bit of a smaller margin. We'll take a little bit of a smaller margin. And the China factory will. And if everybody gets together and shares the burden, everybody will feel a little pinch, but not a huge pinch. But if the consumer, and the administration, and the retailers try to put this burden just on a manufacturer like myself and try to expect us to eat the entire 30% tariff, then you're going to have a lot of problems with businesses because none of us have these kinds of profit margins. So this has got to be something, like buying war bonds back in the day, that everybody's going to have to chip in and help out. And, you know, we'll see if this all works. The jury's out and it'll come in on November 2026. And we'll see whether this policy is right or wrong.
Martin: But you were really worried that you might actually not have anything to sell at Christmas. Which, frankly, let's just be honest, would have shut you down, right?
Foreman: Oh, for sure. 145% [tariffs] would have put my business and many, many others out of the market and out of business and [caused] a huge shortage of merchandise for the holiday season. The 30% gets things moving. You're likely to see prices increase, if everybody takes their part, about 10 to 15%. And, you know, we would assume, with the stock market staying high and unemployment staying kind of at a reasonable level, that the market will be able to absorb that. And things will kind of move on. And we'll, again, see whether the president's experiment works or not.
Martin: What if President Trump makes another U-turn? What do you do?
Foreman: Well, if he makes another U-turn, it's just chaos for everybody again. And this is where they've got to sort of settle down. We were lucky and we got the varsity team going to Switzerland to do this. This JV team is still out there working with every other market. And the president, of course, can lob a grenade into the middle of this at any time. So they've just got to settle down, and move on and let people do business this year. And let's have Christmas.
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