How a German Toy Maker Managed to Profit Despite US Tariffs

A day before President Donald Trump announced tariffs on trading partners around the world in April, German toymaker Tonies — which makes colorful audio boxes beloved by legions of young children and their parents — celebrated the opening of a new factory in Vietnam.

The timing was a coincidence; preparations for the factory had begun a year earlier. But it meant that production of the latest version of the company’s audio device, called the Toniebox, destined for the United States, could be moved to a country with a lower tariff. And just in time for the holidays.(

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“This is where luck meets preparation, right?” said Tobias Wann, CEO of Tonies, in an interview at his office in Düsseldorf, Germany, while demonstrating the Toniebox 2 with a game of Gabby’s Dollhouse. “We were able, from day one, to entirely shift U.S.-oriented production from China to Vietnam.”

The United States, as the world’s largest toy market, is highly attractive to European manufacturers, which have struggled in recent years. Expectations were high that they could reverse this scenario in 2025. Then came the tariffs.

The vast majority of the world’s toys are produced in China, where industrial expertise has been built over decades and cannot be easily replaced. But Trump initially imposed a 45% tariff on goods made in China, a rate that has since dropped to 30%.

Companies like Tonies, which have been able to shift production from China to places like Vietnam — subject to a 20% tariff — are in a more favorable position. But some competitors need to raise prices or find ways to reduce costs.

Ravensburger, a German company that makes board games and puzzles like Lorcana and Villainous — developed in collaboration with The Walt Disney Co. — said it would absorb tariff costs on products made in the European Union, which has been hit by a 15% tariff.

For toys made in China, however, there was no escaping higher prices, although the company tried to keep the increase as low as possible, Ravensburger spokeswoman Katrin Seemann said in an emailed statement.

Not even Tonies was immune to price increases. Its new boxes are made in Vietnam, but the miniatures used with them — which activate stories, music and games — are not. They are designed in a small town in southwest Germany, but molded and painted by hand in China, Bosnia and Tunisia.

“All with different tariffs,” said Wann, including 30% for products from Bosnia and 25% from Tunisia.

As a result, the company said, it had no choice but to raise the price of many of its popular figures, including Disney and Marvel characters, a new Bow Wizzle from “Doggyland” — voiced by Snoop Dogg — and a sought-after Mrs. Rachel with her pink sash and blue jumpsuit.

“This was purely driven by tariffs,” Wann said of the decision to charge $2 more for premium miniatures. “Fortunately, we haven’t seen any declines.”

Toy sales in the United States rose 7% in the first nine months of the year, compared with a flat performance in the same period a year ago, according to Circana, a market research firm. The increase came despite the new tariffs, which contributed to an average 4% increase in retail prices, the company said.

Uncertainty about tariffs doesn’t lessen children’s need to play, said Juli Lennett, toy industry consultant at Circana.

“The toy industry has a unique advantage and tends to be resilient in turbulent times, as toys serve as emotional anchors for families, offering joy and a welcome distraction in our lives,” he said.

Tonies also has the added benefit of a long-awaited update to its product. The new version of Toniebox is focused on stories, but the company has added lights, a sleep timer and games.

In the first three months of the year, Tonies reported, revenue increased by almost a third, reaching 321.8 million euros (R$1.99 billion), compared to the previous year. Half of this value was generated in the United States, where its products are sold at major retailers including Kohl’s, Target and Walmart.

“I think there is a clear shared understanding among parents and caregivers that, ‘Every year that I can put off the cell phone or screen and create an alternative is a very valuable year for children’s development,’” Wann said.

Still, not all German toymakers were so lucky.

Amigo Spiele, a small company in Dietzenbach that makes card and board games such as Halli Galli, Bohnanza and Wizard, relies on distributors to get its games on the shelves of major retailers.

In 2018, the company created a subsidiary in the United States to better understand the American market and consumers and promote its games there. Then came the pandemic and then the uncertainty linked to Trump’s trade war.

In October, the company said in a statement that it would close its U.S. subsidiary at the end of the year, blaming the difficulties created “by the constantly changing situation with increasing shipping and component costs.”

“It was the last straw,” said Andrea Milke, spokeswoman for Amigo Spiele.