How Donald Trump Might Steal Christmas

Toymakers are being walloped by tariffs.

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Times are bleak in Toyland. So bleak that Bratz dolls' flowing locks are at risk.

"There is no American factory anywhere that can make hair for dolls," fumes Mr Isaac Larian, boss of MGA Entertainment, the Los Angeles company that makes the fashion figurines. "What am I supposed to do? Sell bald dolls?"

The killjoy behind all the gloom? Mr Donald Trump.

The President's tariffs are proving particularly burdensome for toymakers. Around 80 percent of toys sold in America are made in China, the main target in Mr Trump's trade war. Levies of 145 percent on Chinese goods are clobbering an industry specialized in churning out cheap delights for children, often at low margins.

Parents may be willing to spend US$15 (S$20) on a Care Bear (cut, sewn and filled in China), even if it is played with only once. At US$36, though, they may tell sellers to get stuffed.

More than Monopoly money is at stake. Toy sales in America are worth about US$30 billion a year, according to Swiss bank UBS.