Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games is suing President Trump after China tariffs threaten tabletop industry

Wingspan publisher Stonemaier Games is suing US president Donald Trump over his decision to impose spiralling import tariffs on China – a situation which has already seen board game businesses shutter their operations and lay off staff.

Stonemaier, which says it is facing an upcoming $1.5m bill under the new tariff regime, has joined a lawsuit challenging Trump’s assertion that he can issue tariffs without oversight or accountability from lawmakers in the US Congress.

Company co-founder and CEO Jamey Stegmaier said in a statement, “We will not stand idly by while our livelihoods – and the livelihoods of thousands of small business owners and contractors in the US, along with the customers whose pursuit of happiness we hold dear – are treated like pawns in a political game.”

An outpouring of support saw more than 100 companies contact Stegmaier within 24 hours of him putting out a request for others who have seen their business damaged by the tariffs, he told the Five Games for Doomsday podcast.

Stegmaier also told the podcast he had received his first-ever death threats over his decision to take part in the lawsuit.

He said in an update yesterday that law firm Pacific Legal, which will be fighting the case, now has “as many clients as it can handle”, although added that other companies directly impacted by the tariffs could reinforce the case by providing evidence through this form.

A spokesperson for Pacific Legal told BoardGameWire, “We will fight on Jamey and his company’s behalf against highly damaging tariffs while seeking damages.

“Jamey believes that the President does not have the power to issue tariffs by himself, with no oversight or accountability.

“We believe this case and issue is headed to the Supreme Court, and we are prepared to fight as long as it takes on behalf of our client.”

The lawsuit is one of several launched in recent weeks challenging Trump’s power to raise tariffs at will, including suits from California governor Gavin Newsom, from the members of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana and from the New Civil Liberties Alliance in Florida.

Board game business from across the industry have been scrambling to adapt to President Trump’s soaring tariffs targeting China, which have risen from 10% to 145% in just two months.

Publishers, designers, manufacturers, retailers and distributors alike have been bracing for price hikes, job losses and the potential shuttering of their businesses due to the tariffs because of the industry’s huge reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

Early casualties of the tariff hikes have included online retailer Boardlandia, which has shut down its operations, and Spirit Island publisher Greater than Games, with parent company Flat River Group laying off the vast majority of its subsidiary’s staff and suspending new projects.

Earlier this month the president of Trekking the World publisher Underdog Games, Nick Bentley, said the company had laid off almost the entirety of its staff – himself included – saying the owner was “shrinking the company to almost nothing to give it the best chance of keeping the lights on during the tariff tsunami”.

Swathes of other board game publishers are desperately hoping for a climbdown from Trump over the China tariffs, with many facing unaffordable costs from products already on boats to the US which were priced and manufactured months – and sometimes years – before the tariff price hikes were unveiled.

Stegmaier said in a blog post, “I try to lead with compassion and empathy, so legal action is very low on my list of ways to handle difficult situations.

“But with this new norm of a 145% tariff imposed by the President on all exports from China to the US – including products that have been in the manufacturing process for months – we are compelled to take action.

“Of course, this isn’t the only action we’re taking, as we have 200,000 units of reprints and 50,000 units of Vantage (plus 57,000 other Vantage accessories) ready to ship out of Shenzhen in a few weeks.”

He said his company had opted to pay to store most of its US-bound products in Chinese warehouses for now, in the hope tariffs have decreased by the time that inventory is needed to replenish stock in the US.

For new release Vantage, which Stegmaier has been working on for eight years, he said, “I’ve spent too long trying to make this game affordable that I’m not going to let one person with unchecked power get in the way of me serving my customers.

“The tariffs may have a slight impact on the US price, but the plan is to largely keep our direct price the same and give customers the option to cover the tariff cost at checkout.

“The plan to release Vantage to US distribution and retail may need a delay – the lack of margins there have a bigger impact on a new game than on reprints.”

He added that Stonemaier was also proceeding to resupply the currently out of stock Finspan in the US, saying, “We will eat most of the tariff cost (which more than doubles our costs) to minimize the impact on distributors, retailers, and consumers.”

Stegmaier said, “These strategies are focused on products we have already manufactured, as the tariffs did not carve out a grace period for such products.

“We are fortunate to have a buffer at Stonemaier Games to weather this storm, and my heart goes out to the many other small businesses – in the US and beyond – who invested their resources in products that they can no longer afford to bring into the US.”