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Toy Company Super7 Confirms Layoffs Due to New U.S. Tariffs

American action figures and collectible toy company Super7 confirmed on May 20 that it has laid off employees, as a "direct results" of the new U.S. tariffs. The company stated that with the new tariffs, it has to be smaller and focus on its core business, while being very specific with what it makes.

Super7 is a San Francisco-based collectible toys and apparel producer founded in 2001 and led by designer Brian Flynn. Super7 manufactures and distributes officially licensed products from Godzilla, Voltron, among many other franchises.

Background on New U.S. Tariffs

Trump announced on April 2 a baseline tariff of 10% on global imports to the United States would start on April 5. He also announced self-described "reciprocal" tariffs would start against many countries on April 9. Vietnam and Cambodia would receive some of the highest additional tariff rates at 46% and 49%, respectively, while Japan and China would receive 24% and 34%, respectively. The president then suspended tariffs for almost all countries except China, which he continued raising to an effective 145% (including tariffs levied prior to the current istration) over a number of days, with China responding with an escalation of its own tariffs to the United States that reached 125%. On May 12, the U.S. and China agreed to lower tariffs for 90 days. The U.S. cut the effective tariff rate on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, and China cut the tariff rate on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%.

The White House posted a list of products exempted from the additional tariffs after the April 2 announcement. That list includes "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter," which indicates books such as manga and other comic books physically printed in Asia would be exempted from the additional tariffs. The U.S. istration has since clarified other goods would be excluded from these particular tariffs, including steel and aluminum products, cars and car products, certain critical resources, smartphones, computers, and various electronic parts.

On May 5, Trump announced on a post on his social media site Truth Social that he is authorizing the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to start the process of imposing a "100%" tariff on movies "coming into [the United States] that are produced in Foreign Lands." White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The Hollywood Reporter after Trump's post, “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the istration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump's directive to safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again."

The U.S. istration noted that it can raise tariffs further or lower them, depending on how countries respond. The current situation on the U.S.'s new protectionist tariff policy is extremely fluid and volatile, and has seen changes and clarifications almost every day.

Sources: Super7's Instagram via Toyark