I love that toys generally stay affordable. For context, I helped round up our most recent list of the best toys and 35 of our picks are $20 or less.
From my 25 years of covering the toy market, I know that part of what keeps kid stuff priced low is manufacturing overseas. And when President Trump recently imposed an additional 10% tariff on products from China, I thought about how that might affect pricing on our favorite toys.
What are tariffs, and how do they affect everyday shopping?
Tariffs are import taxes imposed on goods brought in from other countries. According to a fact sheet shared by the White House, President Trump recently announced a 25% tariff on imported goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imported goods from China.
Put simply: Any items you purchase that were imported from Canada, Mexico or China (like toys) may rise up in price in the near future.
Why are tariffs affecting toys?
About 80% of all toys in the U.S. are imported from China, Greg Ahearn, President and CEO of the Toy Association, explains. "China has historically been a good trade partner with the U.S., particularly around certain industries, the toy industry being one of them."
Some of the beautifully crafted wooden toys from beloved brands like Lovevery and Melissa & Doug are designed in the U.S. but manufactured in China. Plush Squishmallows are made in China, as are American Girl dolls."You'd be surprised at the handmade quality and the high skill it takes to be able to create those," Ahearn shares. "That supply chain has been built up over decades with highly skilled labor that helps deliver incredibly safe, high-quality toys."
Additionally, according to Ahearn, there are 150-plus safety standards that every toy needs to pass to be able to be brought into the U.S. through proper channels. "So this existing supply chain, again, built up over decades, has factories that are ethically run," he says. "They pass every safety standard."
How long will this new tariff policy last?
We don't know yet. "It depends on how the tariff policy plays out," Ahearn says. According to the fact sheet, tariffs are in response to "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs," and will continue "until the crisis is alleviated."
Ahearn is hopeful that the government might make exceptions, like they already have for small packages arriving from China. If tariffs remain, parents might see higher prices by fall.
How much more expensive will toys be?
"Based on everything that we've seen, and from when we've had our own economists run numbers, it's almost a point-for-point potential inflationary scenario for us," Ahearn says. "A 10% tariff on China could result in a 10% or maybe even slightly more increase in consumer prices as we head into the third and fourth quarters of 2025."
Mom-and-pop toy stores would also certainly need to raise prices if the tariff holds, says Sue Warfield, President of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA), in order to keep their businesses going.
"Bottom line," says Warfield: "If prices go up [for] the retailers, they would have no other option than to raise their retail price."
Toys we love may face price increases
While the policy is still in the works, if you know you'll need to buy kids' gifts for birthdays and holidays this year, here are a few of my favorites by brands with products made in China. I don't think you'd regret stockpiling these now, at today's tariff-free prices.
Melissa & Doug Food Groups
Twenty-one hand-painted, wooden pretend-play food pieces like a fish, an egg and a tomato store in four wooden crates. This set makes a perfect gift, both educational and fun, something that can be combined with existing toys or used on its own. It's got more than 31,000 five-star Amazon ratings. Ages 3+
Grab this Squishmallows, with its party hat and confetti belly, and hang on to it for some future birthday party. You can give one of these to a 1-year-old, a 14-year-old or a 50-year old and they'd all be equally delighted. Birth+
Don't sleep on this winner of our Best Toys award. It's a kid-size wooden kitchen with 30 play pieces, plus fun details like an opening oven and clicky stove knobs. Kids can imitate you in the kitchen, or pretend to run their own cafe with the chalkboard menu. Ages 2+
LeapFrog Learning Friends 100 Words Book
A 10 percent upcharge in this affordable toy wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's such a well-loved educational toy that it's worth mentioning here. It combines buttons, sounds and lights with legit literacy lessons that can help a preschooler get into reading. It has more than 75,000 five-star Amazon ratings and other fun versions, like 100 Animals and 100 Things That Go. Requires 2 AA batteries; Ages 18 months+
Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. Talking Microscope
Science-y kids get a load of new facts via the voice of Bindi Irwin, who narrates the 60 images included on the slides. This toy microscope comes with two modes of play — fact mode and quiz mode — that together offer kids more than 100 scientific lessons. Ages 3+
A 10 percent increase on the Girl of the Year 2025, also named to our Best Toys, would be hefty, so if you've been eyeing it as a gift, maybe act now. The story of Summer McKinny is that she's a dog lover and a baker, and she's got soft pink highlights in her hair. American Girl has also recently added 18-inch Disney dolls, including Belle, and 15-inch Disney Bitty Babies, like Ariel. Ages 6+
Good Housekeeping readers love this kid gift, making it a bestseller on our site year after year. It's great for open-ended, active imaginative play, since kids can sit in it, put toys in it, flip it over and pretend its a turtle shell, stand on it, take it to the beach — it can be nearly anything and everything. Ages 2 to 4 years
This Monster Truck RC is a favorite of mine, tested and proven to roll through deep water, over rocks and across your yard like a boss. It's such a fun gift, and if a kid you know likes trucks or sharks or playing outside, this could be for them. Remote requires 2 AAA batteries; Ages 4+
If getting your preschooler on wheels is one of your springtime goals, you may as well go ahead and get them a great balance bike so they're ready to go. Strider balance bikes do not have pedals, your toddler pushes with their feet and learns to balance on two wheels so that eventually moving up to a big bike is no problem. Ages 1 to 4 years
Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents.
