Cara Dyer
Appearances
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
jobs. Right. There's a whole chain of people for that one product that will be affected if I don't bring that product in.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Well, I have mixed emotions, honestly. She's not quite celebrating. I do feel a little bit like a weight has been lifted. Just a little bit. But I'm also feeling super cautious.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
No, no, I don't. It's scary. It's super scary. I feel like something could go wrong at any second.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Like, this has literally already happened to me. And so, like, it is very risky. It's very uncertain. And it's not going to feel okay until there is a real solid trade agreement in place.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
We are a small business. A $100,000 order is... Not that much, actually.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
If shipping is crazy because of the supply chain disruption, that could be a surprise cost that comes up
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
What I'm going to propose to our factory is that we share the tariff. the expense of the tariff. And I think that they can come down a little bit on their price so that we can do that. And then also both share the risk of the tariff reemerging. So if it ends up that we have to pay a tariff of 50% or 80%, that they agree to pay half of that and I will agree to pay half.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
And you think they will do that? Yeah. I don't know. I'm going to propose it to them. I think it's at least worth asking. And I don't think that they have a lot of room. But my other choice is to go out of business or sell all the inventory that I have and then go out of business.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
We could work with our factory to make a little planet money something. But they don't just make like one one off products. Well, it's a sample. Oh, we could get a Planet Money doll sample. You obviously pay them. Yeah, no, we would pay them. Maybe you could make a plush planet. Maybe like a squirrel. Okay. Or it could be an astronaut.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Yeah, I started my career designing missile guidance systems and... Missile guidance systems? Missile guidance systems, yes, yes.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Yeah, yeah, it actually is the exact opposite of missiles.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
And then, you know, it's like this little flap that you open.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
All of these pieces. It's like sturdy foam puzzle pieces. That kids can build into the fairy tale world that is depicted in the story. They build the Three Little Bears house, and it's got three bowls of porridge and three chairs and three little beds. It's like a gingerbread house kind of vibe. Yes, yes. And this is like our patented technology. So...
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Like for the Three Little Pigs, the straw house blows down easily. Like it's not very stable and you can knock it over. And the stick house is sort of the same way, but the brick house, we've designed it so that like it really stands firm.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Because, you know, you have to pay the tariff as a lump sum when the product arrives.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Like months longer. And then on April 2nd? The tariffs were announced and, you know, quickly escalated to 145%. And... At that point, it was out of our control.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
I know. I've been thinking about that $45,000 an awful lot.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Yeah, it was on one of their web pages that says it was like an on-the-water exemption. Oh, on-the-water exemption.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
So that's yeah, it's super unclear. Oh, you don't know. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah. And even our customs shipping coordinator didn't know.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Oh. Oh, man. That is so frustrating because... At that point, we had no control over our shipment. Like, it had already, like, the wheels were in motion.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
The shipping boxes are going to be more expensive and the labels and everything. So... There's so much more that that's adding to the cost too that I don't know what we're going to do. You seem really sad. Yeah, it is sad. It is sad. I don't want to lose my business, you know?
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Uh, no. No, we couldn't. So, I mean, I've looked into it every year. That would be amazing. Dream. Dream scenario. It would be totally a dream scenario.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Our products are made from the same materials that yoga mats are made from, which is EVA foam. And China is really the only place where they make it.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
So I couldn't buy foam from them even if I wanted to. She's tried. So we would have to import all the materials.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
And the foam is kind of like what sets Kara's toys apart. Using this foam is one of our competitive advantages. We have these pieces that interlock, and you can pull them apart without any tools or screws or glue. So I even hesitate to think about changing our material. And if I was going to change to another material, I still think we would have... A similar problem.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Like we would, if we were to change to cardboard, well, we would probably have to source the cardboard from China. China is the biggest producer of cardboard. Or if we were to change to bamboo, same thing.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
side of things. When we import a toy, say we spend, for example, $4 to have that manufactured in a factory in China. Well, then once it gets back over here to the United States, for that $4, I also spend another $15 to $30 getting the product into the hands of our customers.
Planet Money
The 145% tariff already did its damage
Because when you ask a factory in China to make you something... That would have been our design that we sent over there and we worked carefully with them. And I would have already probably worked with artists and designers and possibly some other engineers and packaging designers here in the U.S. And we would have coordinated quite a lot with the factory in China.