Toy Company Super7 Confirms Layoffs Due to New U.S. Tariffs
American action figures and collectible toy company Super7 confirmed on May 20 that it has laid off employees, as a "direct results" of the new U.S. tariffs. The company stated that with the new tariffs, it has to be smaller and focus on its core business, while being very specific with what it makes. Super7 is a San Francisco-based collectible toys and apparel producer founded in 2001 and led by designer Brian Flynn. Super7 manufactures and distributes officially licensed products from Godzilla, Transformers, Power Rangers, and Voltron, among many other franchises.The White House posted a list of products exempted from the additional tariffs after the April 2 announcement. That list includes "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter," which indicates books such as manga and other comic books physically printed in Asia would be exempted from the additional tariffs. The U.S. administration has since clarified other goods would be excluded from these particular tariffs, including steel and aluminum products, cars and car products, certain critical resources, smartphones, computers, and various electronic parts.On May 5, Trump announced on a post on his social media site Truth Social that he is authorizing the Department of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to start the process of imposing a "100%" tariff on movies "coming into [the United States] that are produced in Foreign Lands." White House spokesperson Kush Desai told The Hollywood Reporter after Trump's post, “Although no final decisions on foreign film tariffs have been made, the administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump's directive to safeguard our country's national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again."The U.S. administration noted that it can raise tariffs further or lower them, depending on how countries respond. The current situation on the U.S.'s new protectionist tariff policy is extremely fluid and volatile, and has seen changes and clarifications almost every day.Sources: Super7's Instagram account via Toyark
