Josh Staph fears the fun-packed shelves of his toy warehouse might start looking joyless in the months ahead, with made-in-China flying discs and model gliders grounded -– like much of his product line –- by Donald Trump’s tariffs.”Things have ground to a halt,” said Staph, chief executive of Duncan Toys Company, which has a warehouse in Indiana. With his products now facing a steep 145 percent levy, “we stopped shipping goods into the US,” he added.Nearly 100 days into President Donald Trump’s White House return, US businesses are scrambling to adjust to fast-changing trade policies.The $40 billion toy industry, which heavily relies on production in China, is hard hit, companies tell AFP.Of over $17 billion worth of toys imported to the US last year, more than $13 billion came from China.Duncan’s entire product range is designed and developed in the United States, Staph said, but Chinese factories make almost all the toys.Firms there have developed specialized abilities to produce intricate parts for items like its best-selling yo-yos.Most American toy companies have halted shipments since Trump imposed new tariffs on many products from China this year, Staph said.The move raised the duty that US firms pay when they import any Chinese-made toys — from plushies to action figures — from zero to 145 percent, more than doubling import costs.”It’s pretty debilitating,” Staph added. “As a business leader, after 100 days of the administration, I’d say that the most challenging part is the uncertainty.” “It’s tough to build any sort of strategy and go for a plan when we know that things are changing almost on a daily basis.”- ‘Tariff surcharges’ -Rita Pin Ahrens, who runs three toy stores including one in Washington, started receiving “tariff surcharges” of 15 percent to 25 percent in March. She expects them to mount to 145 percent.Many of the thousands of toys she sells are either imported from places like China, or are partially made in the world’s second biggest economy.Still, she said: “We’re trying to minimize the cost to our consumers.”This has meant holding off purchases that become too pricey or stocking up before tariffs kicked in. And shipment delays have already begun.”It has been a complete nightmare,” she said. “I am really, truly worried about whether we can actually sustain the store.”Many US brands are small businesses with limited cashflow, said Greg Ahearn, chief executive of industry group The Toy Association.They struggle to pay sudden tariffs on containers of toys that may have already been manufactured.Meanwhile, “production of toys has all but stopped in China,” he said.- ‘Difficult Christmas’ -Staph of Duncan Toys said inventory to supply US retailers like Target and Walmart through year-end holidays has not entered the country yet.Typically, toys produced in spring arrive over the summer for shipping in the fall as stores prepare for the holiday shopping boom, with around 90 percent of stock coming from overseas.”If this isn’t cleared up in 30 to 60 days, it’s going to be a really difficult Christmas season with empty shelves in a lot of major retailers,” Staph warned.And if tariffs remain in force, “the pricing of those toys that are even available will probably be twice, if not more, the price they were last year,” said Ahearn of The Toy Association.While the United States makes some toys, many products require hand labor and it will take years to grow the US manufacturing base, Ahearn believes.The injection molding process used to produce many items requires extremely large, heavy tools that cannot be moved and must be installed from scratch.Companies were ready to work around Trump’s 10 percent additional tariff on Chinese imports, imposed in February over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.But in March, Trump raised the level to 20 percent. In April, the figure exploded to 145 percent.Staph hopes the toy industry can gain exemptions, noting that Trump has begun targeting specific industries.”Toys are important for children’s development,” Ahrens said, noting that toys were excluded from tariffs during Trump’s first administration.”I really urge the president to do that again.”

Gold prices hit a fresh record Monday while the dollar weakened further and stocks were mixed amid worries about Donald Trump’s tariff blitz and bubbling row with the Federal Reserve.With several markets still closed for the Easter holiday, business was limited ahead of a week that will see the release of key data that should give an insight into the impact of the US president’s trade war.Several nations have moved to cut a deal with Washington to stem the worst of the White House’s levies, with Japan the highest profile economy.However, China warned governments on Monday not to seek an agreement that compromised Beijing’s interests.While the rest of the world has been slapped with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.”Appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not be respected,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a statement.”To seek one’s own temporary selfish interests at the expense of others’ interests is to seek the skin of a tiger,” Beijing said.That approach, it warned, “will ultimately fail on both ends and harm others”.The remarks come after Trump said Thursday that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world’s largest economies could make a deal to end the bitter trade war.”Yeah, we’re talking to China,” he said. “I would say they have reached out a number of times.””I think we’re going to make a very good deal with China.”Concerns about the global economic outlook pushed safe haven assets higher, with gold hitting a new record high above $3,384.The precious metal was also helped by a weaker dollar, which has also been hit by worries about Trump’s standoff with Fed boss Jerome Powell.The president raised worries about the bank’s independence when he last week lashed Powell for warning that the tariffs were “highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation” and suggested interest rate cuts were unlikely.Trump later called on him to slash borrowing costs and added: “If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me.”Powell has said he had no plans to step down early, adding that he considered the bank’s independence over monetary policy to be a “matter of law”.The dollar fell against its main peers, with the yen and euro among the best performers.French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said: “Donald Trump has hurt the credibility of the dollar with his aggressive moves on tariffs — for a long time.”If Powell is pushed out “this credibility will be harmed even more, with developments in the bond market”, he told La Tribune Dimanche newspaper.Chicago Fed boss Austan Goolsbee on Sunday told CBS’s Face The Nation: “There’s virtual unanimity among economists that monetary independence from political interference — that the Fed or any central bank be able to do the job that it needs to do — is really important.”Stocks had a mixed start to the week, with Tokyo weighed by the stronger yen and Taipei also in negative territory. But Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Manila and Jakarta rose.Oil prices dropped on demand fears as worries about the global economy swirl. Traders are keeping tabs on the release of key April manufacturing data around the world this week, hoping for an idea about the early impact of Trump’s tariffs.”One thing that’s absolutely clear — and no longer debatable — is that the reputational hit to the US brand is real, and it’s not fading quietly into the next news cycle,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”It’s sticking. Investors, allies, and even central banks are starting to bake in the idea that American policymaking, both fiscal and monetary, is now a geopolitical variable — not a given,” he added.- Key figures at 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 34,300.35 (break) Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,292.98Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1476 from $1.1371 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP $1.3353 at $1.3270Dollar/yen: DOWN at 141.03 yen from 142.33 yen Euro/pound: UP at 85.94 pence from 85.68 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.7 percent at $62.91 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $66.84 per barrelLondon – FTSE 100: Closed for a holidayNew York – Dow: Closed for a holiday

China on Monday hit out at other countries making trade deals with the United States at Beijing’s expense, promising countermeasures against those who “appease” Washington in the blistering tariff war.While the rest of the world has been slapped with a blanket 10 percent tariff, China faces levies of up to 145 percent on many products. Beijing has responded with duties of 125 percent on US goods.A number of countries are now engaged in negotiations with the United States to lower tariffs, parallel to Washington’s full trade war against top US economic rival China.But Beijing warned nations on Monday not to seek a deal with the United States that compromised its interests.”Appeasement will not bring peace, and compromise will not be respected,” a spokesperson for Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement.”To seek one’s own temporary selfish interests at the expense of others’ interests is to seek the skin of a tiger,” Beijing said.That approach, it warned, “will ultimately fail on both ends and harm others”.”China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests,” the spokesperson said.”If such a situation occurs, China will never accept it and will resolutely take reciprocal countermeasures,” they added.US President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin.Trump said Thursday that the United States was in talks with China on tariffs, adding that he was confident the world’s largest economies could make a deal to end the bitter trade war.”Yeah, we’re talking to China,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I would say they have reached out a number of times.””I think we’re going to make a very good deal with China,” he said at the White House.China has vowed to fight a trade war “to the end” and has not confirmed that it is in talks with Washington, though it has called for dialogue.It has slammed what it calls “unilateralism and protectionism” by the United States — and warned about an international order reverting to the “law of the jungle”.”Where the strong prey on the weak, all countries will become victims,” Beijing said Monday.