It is not a good time to be making toys in China. Before President Trump ignited talk of a US-China trade war, the world’s biggest toy-exporting nation already faced thin profit margins, accelerated product cycles and rising wages. And that was before Chinese factories were hit by the bankruptcy of American retailer Toys ‘R’ Us last year.
“There’s a great deal of apprehension,” says Robert Dorfman, chairman of Herald Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed group that exports toys, watches and household goods from China to the US. “Most of us are more worried than we’ve been in several decades.”
Despite the pressures, manufacturers like Mr Dorfman argue that China, the source of 82 per cent of US toy imports last year, and the US, the world’s biggest toy market, depend on each other.