Robert Insall comments on the impact of rising tariffs on toy brands

When tariffs rose at the start of 2025, Robert Insall, Partner at BTG, was asked to contribute his thoughts to a Bloomberg article about the impact on toy makers that were reliant on Chinese manufacturers for their products.

The article noted that the 145% tariff had a significant impact on a number of major, international brands causing one listed company to withdraw its guidance for the year and others to experience spreads on their US dollar bonds to widen substantially.

However, smaller companies were said to be the most at risk of greatest hurt with a survey of 400 SME US toy companies by The Toy Association finding that nearly half of those asked were expecting to go out of business within months due to tariff changes.

Robert noted that with tariffs likely to be passed onto consumers and the toy sector dependent on seasonal discretional spending the confidence of consumers is essential. It could mean that companies with significant debt will need restructure going forward as they understand the impact. 

Read the full article on Bloomberg.