Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University.  This week, Thorne discusses more tariff news, including price increases and companies scaling down to brace for the impact of tariffs.

Changes for the tariffs affecting the games industry are coming so fast, I expect to see something different regarding them by the time this column runs.  First RPG books may be exempted due to an exemption for printed materials in the tariff declaration (see "Rolling for Initiative").  Then, customs rulings on the nature of roleplaying books back in 1989 and 1991 classified them as games rather than books and thus subject to a higher tariff amount (see "More Tariff Reactions").  As I noted in the column, a later ruling by the customs office might supersede those earlier ones and it appears one does.  Maz Hamilton of Rowan, Rook &  Decard pointed out a 2024 ruling by the National Commodity Specialist Division on a Shadowrun RPG book classifying it as indeed a book and not a game (see "Recent Ruling on RPG Book Tariffs").  Here is the relevant section of the ruling:

In your letter, dated August 7, 2024, you requested a tariff classification ruling on behalf of your client, Catalyst Game Labs.  Photos and a description of the item were submitted for our review.

The item under consideration is a rule book for the role-playing game Shadowrun, 6th edition. The book is hardcover and contains 344 pages.

In order to play the actual game, dice, maps, figures and record sheets are required.  This ruling only takes into consideration the books when imported separately.

The applicable subheading for the rule book will be 4901.99.0070, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which provides for "Printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets:  Other: Other: Other: Other:  Hardbound books."  The column one general rate of duty will be Free.

The ruling does go on to note that:

The HTSUS is subject to periodic amendment so you should exercise reasonable care in monitoring the status of goods covered by the Note cited above and the applicable Chapter 99 subheading

So, the status of RPG books in regards to tariffs certainly could change depending on future rulings.

Meanwhile, more companies have either announced price increases due to tariffs, or that they are closing up altogether (see "Economics Lessons from Ferris Bueller").  Japananime Games sent out a list of items on which the company will increase prices next month.  Several of their games will increase in price by $2 to $17, but it looks as if most of the increase will hit the company's card sleeves and playmats, which will see an increase in MSRP of $2 for sleeves and $5 for playmats. Meanwhile, online board game retailer Boardlandia announced it was closing operations (see "Boardlandia Online"), while CMON, whose non-payment of a substantial invoice was blamed by management at Final Frontier Games for the company's closure, announced the company would pause all future game development and new crowdfunding campaigns until trade conditions have stabilized (see "CMON Halts Development of Future Game Projects").

In the realm of comics, Diamond Comics Distribution sent out a notice this week that stores would see price increases on tariff-affected items starting this week and it would start adding Country of Origin notices to Item Detail pages.

The Trump administration did say it was in talks with China and that the high tariffs on Chinese goods would "come down substantially."  China disputes this, saying there are no negotiations currently going on, according to the New York Times.

What is going to happen?  My guess is the absurdly high tariffs will get rolled back, not to where they were but dramatically lower.  I just hope it happens quickly before more businesses in the industry let people go or close their doors.

How is your company doing?  Other comments?  Send them to castleperilousgames@gmail.com.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.