Struggling With Tariffs, Mattel Agrees Prices Are Going Up

Trump has made dolls the face of Americans' trade war sacrifice
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 5, 2025 7:45 PM CDT
Struggling With Tariffs, Mattel Agrees Prices Are Going Up
Barbie Dream Besties, from Mattel, are displayed at the TTPM 2024 Holiday Showcase event in New York last September.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Mattel Inc., the maker of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars, and other iconic toys, said Monday that it will raise prices for some products sold in the US—one of the steps it's taking to deal with President Trump's tariffs. The California company said the price increases are necessary even though it is speeding up its plans to diversify its manufacturing base away from China, the AP reports. Trump imposed a 145% tariff on most Chinese-made products before telling US families that the tariffs could mean "maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally."

The company is lobbying the administration to exempt toys from tariffs, per the Wall Street Journal, so we don't get to that point. "Zero tariffs for toys gives the greatest number of children and families access to play," Mattel's chief executive said, per CNN. Trump's trade war has made predicting consumer spending so difficult, Ynon Kreiz said, that the company won't produce a financial forecast for the year. China accounts for 40% of Mattel's global production, executives said.

An analysis by Telsey Advisory Group found that Barbie already costs more: Over a week in April, the retail price of one version sold at Target rose 42.9% to $14.99. Asked about Trump's comments on doll ownership, Kreiz said toys are an essential part of children's lives, per the Journal. Mattel will work to keep delivering a supply of quality products, uninterrupted, he said. (More tariffs stories.)

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