Canadian board game business caught in crossfire of U.S. tariffs

A Canadian small business owner is speaking out about the “confusion and chaos” that the ongoing tariffs are causing his industry, and how the U.S. enacting tariffs on imported foreign goods can greatly impact companies north of the border.

Jay Cormier is the owner of Vancouver-based board game publisher Off the Page Games. He told Daily Hive in an interview that his latest shipment of games had custom fees jump tens of thousands of dollars, up 185 per cent.

While U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for several nations on April 9, Cormier said that many businesses are already hurting.

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“Even though I’m a Canadian business, around 60 to 70 per cent of my business is done in the United States,” said Cormier. “I print all my games in China and then ship them to each hub around the world.

“In March, we had two containers full of games land in the U.S. Normally, I would pay US$1,000 or so in customs fees, but this time my bill was US$26,000 because of the 20 per cent tariffs that were in place at the time.

“Since then, the U.S. tariffs on goods made in China have increased to 54 per cent, 104 per cent, and now to 125 per cent. So I guess I was ‘lucky.'”

Off the Page Games publishes board games based on indie comic books, with tabletop titles including the award-winning MIND MGMT,  Harrow County, and Corps of Discovery.

Cormier explained that unless Canadian businesses had enough product to fill a container to be shipped directly to Canada, it is normally cheaper to ship from China to the U.S. and then transport the items up north.

“When we printed and shipped our latest games, we were not expecting to pay another US$25,000,” the game designer said. “That comes out of our pocket, and with margins on games being so thin already, tariffs are making it super hard to stay in business right now.

“If they landed when it was at 54 per cent, then I would have had to pay US$70,000, and if they landed at 104 per cent, I’d have to pay US$135,000. Which board game publisher has money lying around that they can afford this? It’s impossible to plan for the future when things seem to change weekly or even daily.”

Cormier admits that he’s in a bit of limbo trying to figure out his next steps, including when to launch his next game and figuring out more cost-effective ways to ship Off the Page games.

“Going forward, we’re going to have to partner with other publishers to align our schedules and share a container if we can’t fill one ourselves. Then we’ll ship Canadian games directly to Canada.”

Tariff worries are also making consumers cautious about backing games on Kickstarter, which helps provide cash flow to many small businesses in industries ranging from tech, fashion, and music.

“Many publishers who have a game fulfilling now or soon are going back to their American backers on crowdfunding sites and asking them for more money to help pay these tariffs. Some say it’s voluntary to contribute more if you wish, but others are making it mandatory for Americans to pay more.

“This is specifically hard for me as I am planning our next Kickstarter campaign to launch on July 1 for our new game, Grendel: The Game of Crime and Mayhem. I’m worried that the confusion and chaos that these tariffs have created will have turned a lot of people off from crowdfunding, but we’re going to need that cash flow soon to stay in business. I honestly don’t know what to do right now. Everything’s changing too fast.”

Multiple Canadian sectors are facing heavy impacts from the ongoing tariff tensions, including grocery, new and used cars, and industrial real estate.

Cormier, who is the creator of the Fail Faster toolset and teaches game design at Vancouver Film School, said that plans are needed to help businesses figure out solutions on how to move forward.

“The short-term reality is that the customer will be paying more for everything that has any element made in China or other countries that the U.S. implemented tariffs on,” said Cormier. “Small businesses need to pay their staff so they can support their families. We need stability to plan properly and new solutions that don’t just gouge the end consumer or the retailer.”

“In these trying times, be kind to small businesses. If you can shift any of your purchasing dollars to them, please do so. We might not be around much longer if people stop supporting us.”