‘Gloomhaven 2E’ Stuck In Limbo Amid Trump Tariff Uncertainty
Approximately $1.2 million worth of Cephalofair product, including the new Gloomhaven, is stuck overseas thanks to the Trump tariffs.
As the tabletop industry braces for even more volatility, the fallout of the Trump tariffs begins. This week, Cephalofair Games COO, Price Johnson, spoke with CNN and revealed that more than $1 million worth of product ready to be packed up and shipped was effectively trapped overseas in light of the new tariffs.
At press time, the current tariffs on China were sitting at 245%, saddling Cephalofair Games with a massive tax burden. One that any company would struggle to pay, especially since, at the time that Cephalofair was making the products, the tariff rate was 0%.
So we’re on the same page: a tariff is a tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports. If you would like more of a primer, we’ve covered this topic before. While the tariffs are hitting the economy as a whole, the tabletop industry is particularly vulnerable due to the nature of its products.
Cephalofair Games Product Stuck Overseas – “We’re Not Getting That Product”
Here’s Cephalofair Games Chief Operating Officer, Price Johnson, speaking with CNN earlier this week. According to Price, the situation is both frustrating and dire, to the point where Cephalofair may have to reconsider its US operations:
“This is about 60,000 total units of product – about 25 forty-foot containers – that would need to be coming to the US right now, which we’re being told unless we pay the US government a 145% tariff tax bill, we’re not getting that product. It’s staying over there and we’re going to need to pivot essentially all of our U.S. sales operations.”
According to Johnson, the daily volatility and confidence in the market have effectively sent the signal to halt all sales in the US—the math needed to make Gloomhaven and other Cephalofair games viable under the Trump tariffs changes “every day.” Given that domestic options don’t exist, Cephalofair Games is forced to consider expanding outside of the US.
This is especially true since the US government has no plan in place, no incentives, and no infrastructure to provide a roadmap to increasing domestic manufacturing. Even the machines that make the games are made in China.
This hits Cephalofair Games especially hard, considering the product on the containers has already found its audience. The Gloomhaven 2E crowdfunding campaign earned more than $5 million on BackerKit (along with a Gloomhaven RPG and a second printing of Frosthaven). Now, with the increased tax burden placed on the games by the US government, Cephalofair simply cannot afford to bring the product over.
And they’re not the only game publisher to be hit with these types of choices.
The Trump tariffs are enacted based on limited tariff authority delegated to the president decades ago. The US Constitution puts tariff power solely in the hands of Congress, which could step in and stop the Trump tariffs any moment if it so chooses.
So, if you want your Gloomhaven 2E, you might want to call your representatives.
