When kids are told stories about elves and reindeer, the truth is that thousands work year-round to make sure Christmas becomes magical. From Chinese factory workers’ string lights on artificial trees to dock workers’ containers for unloading toys, this huge workforce ensures Americans can choose from a variety of decorations and gifts each December. But all of this is at risk this year as President Donald Trump’s destructive tariff policies threaten most of global trade.
In almost every industry, businesses relying on international trade await amid pain Trump’s tariff standoff with China. Some paused their orders while others scrambled to find alternative suppliers. The delay of nearly a month has particularly hurt industries that are strictly seasonal production cycles such as Christmas holidays. "If you miss this sales cycle, you have to wait a full year," said Michael Shaughnessy, senior vice president of supply chain at Balsam Brands, a multinational holiday decoration company.
Companies selling Christmas decorations, gifts and toys told Wired that April is usually the time for retailers to lock in their orders and manufacturing. If they can’t start producing products as soon as possible, they will face a tightening of time later this year, with higher shipping rates and may miss their sales window. As a result, U.S. customers may see fewer options on store shelves and are forced to pay more for this year’s Christmas purchases.
“Things will be more expensive and there will be fewer choices,” said Jim McCann, founder of 1-800-Flowers. “Retailers won’t be forced to discount as they used to be because there is no reason.”
For people in the Christmas business, work will begin next year after the holidays are over. Until recently, the supply chain was a greasy machine, and everyone performed their duties at the right time of the year to jointly build a grand holiday finale.
Rick Woldenberg, CEO of educational toy maker Learning Resources, breaks down Wired's schedule: It takes three months to place an order and produce a factory to make the product, and then ship it from China to the U.S., two more. This means that if a company aims to start arriving at our warehouse in mid-September to start preparing for the December holiday, they do need to start working now from April.
Earlier this month, Waldenberg sued the Trump administration for filing tariffs, accusing the president of overcoming his powers by introducing such a wide range of import duties. "We are working to stand up for ourselves and protect our rights," he said. "We need help now. The sooner the better. We want them to stop."
Woldenberg predicts that toy store shelves are not necessarily empty Christmas as retailers may scramble to find discontinued products or other alternatives to fill the gap, but not necessarily the items customers are looking for. “That’s when Americans really want to figure out that this is a terrible idea,” he said. “We have an amazing supply chain that has been around for a thousand years and it ripped apart for no reason.”