A hobby industry campaign calls for targeted tariff relief to “protect American small businesses, STEM education, and community-based creative industries.”
The Hobby Industry Coalition represents a wide spectrum of the American hobby and toy industry, including model railroading, among others. Per the Hobby Industry Coalition, the industry supports over 600,000 U.S. jobs and includes thousands of small and family-run businesses.
“Trade Policy at a Crossroads: Safeguarding the Toy & Hobby Industry,” a position paper released by the coalition, outlines how current U.S trade policy, and specifically the 145% tariff on Chinese imports, poses a danger to the American toy and hobby industry.
Per the paper, “the toy and hobby industry (…) is facing collapse,” with tariffs “escalating into an existential threat.”
In a press release shared with Model Railroader, the Coalition, which describes itself as nonpartisan, states that they are calling for refinement rather than repeal of the tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The refinements the coalition has called for includes “reinstating past exclusion processes” and “creating a transparent review mechanism.”
“We’re offering a policy solution that respects enforcement goals while correcting unintended harm” said Stacey Walthers Naffah, CEO and President of Wm. K. Walthers, Inc. “This is practical, precedent-based, and pro-small business.”
More tariff coverage:
Click here to watch an interview with Stacey Walthers Naffah on Trains.com Video.
Click here to watch an interview with Jason Shron, CEO of Rapido Trains, on Trains.com Video.
FreightWaves: Tariffs threaten model railroading as industry group seeks relief
I’ve been in model railroading since 1958, when I began helping my father with his H0 layouts. And, as an N scalers since 1964 with Lone Star 000 scale. My father had mostly Marx, Athearn, Varney, Mantua-Tyco, and AHM. He never owned any brass. Except for Micro Trains, I don’t think any N Scale rolling stock has been produced in the U.S. One question I have is, do we really need the “last rivet” detail we’ve come to expect in models from China? Most of us were more focused on reliable mechanisms than super details. Remember the Globe F-7 shells Athearn kept going until recently? How about the “Blue Box” kits? Do we really need fragile details that often have to be applied by the buyer? If you look at N and H0 rolling stock from the 1970’s-1980’s the two scales were on-par with each other in terms of detail. And quality. But now, the detailing seems to have gotten out of hand. The manufacturers need to ask, “just because something can be done, does it have to be done?” Perhaps rolling stock could be re-shored first. As for those old molds? They’re not coming back. Chinese laws prevent that.
I agree. Use the coalition to raise capitol and build a factory or two.
Instead of begging for tariff relief on goods made in foreign countries, bring the manufacturing back to the United States. As a lifelong model railroader, I would be more than happy to purchase my models if they had Made In The USA on the box.