While children tell stories about elves and reindeers, the truth is that hundreds of thousands of people work all year round to make sure that Christmas seems magical. From factory workers in Chinese string lights on artificial trees to the task of discharging employees of toy containers, this huge workforce provides Americans with a wide selection of decorations and gifts every December. But all this is in danger this year as the destructive tariff policy of President Donald Trump threatens to stop a enormous part of global trade.
In almost every industry, companies depending on international trade await in agony as Trump’s tariff fight with China continues. Some stop their orders while others try to find alternative suppliers. The disturbance that has been going on for almost a month is particularly harmful to industries that run raw seasonal production cycles, such as Christmas such as Christmas. “If you miss this sales cycle, you have to wait all year round. Nobody wants a Christmas tree after Christmas,” says Michael Shaughnessy, senior vice president for delivery chains at Balm Brands, an international holiday company.
Companies that sell Christmas ornaments, gifts and toys, tell Wired that April is usually the time when retailers close their orders and production begins. If they are unable to produce products soon, they will face the crisis later, higher shipping rates and can potentially miss the sales window. As a result, US customers will probably see less options on store shelves and will be forced to pay more for ordinary Christmas shopping this year.
“Things will be more expensive and there will be fewer choices,” says Jim McCann, founder of 1-800 Flowers, who sells a wide range of Christmas presents, greeting cards and food baskets. “Detailers will not be forced to discount, as in the past, because there will be no reason.”
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For people in the Christmas industry, work begins for next year, as soon as holidays end. Until recently, this supply chain was a well -oiled machine, and everyone performs their duty in the right time of the year, approaching the great holiday finals.
Rick Woldenberg, CEO for the producer of educational toys of educational resources, granted the breakdown of the time axis: placing orders and producing product factories takes three months, and then sending them from China to the USA takes another two. This means that if the company strives for its reserves to start to come to American warehouses until mid -September, to start preparing for the December holiday season, she really has to start working now in April.
At the beginning of this month, Woldenberg sued Trump’s administration for tariffs, claiming that the president had exceeded his authority by introducing such wide import duties. “We try to defend ourselves and protect our rights,” he says. “We need help now. The faster, the better. We want them to stop.”
Woldenberg predicts that the shelves of toy stores will not necessarily be empty, come to Christmas, because retailers can try to find withdrawn products or other substitutes to fill the gap, but they will not necessarily be items that customers are looking for. “That’s when the Americans will really find out what a terrible idea it was,” he says. “We had this amazing supply chain once in the background and is torn to them for no reason.”