2025 Tariff Impacts at CREO

Important Note: This blog post was published on May 19, 2025 - the tariff situation is constantly updating, so the information here may be inaccurate. Please keep an eye out for additional update emails that will be sent out if necessary, and don't hesitate to reach out to support@creocards.com if you have any questions.

Unfortunately, like many other board game manufacturers, we have been impacted by the recent Tariffs implemented by USA to China and other countries.

Background

We manufacture our products in China. We have a long history of working with an incredibly talented team of people who can accommodate all of our crazy ideas, and help bring our vision to life.

The team in China is wonderful, and we have a deep relationship of 5+ years of working together.

How Tariffs Work

Tariffs are import taxes charged by the US government on certain goods when brought into the country. These fees aren’t charged to the original manufacturer or the country where the goods are made, but instead charged to the company (and customers) importing the products.

The Impact

We are doing everything humanly possible to minimize the impact of these tariffs to you, the customer. This includes absorbing some of the costs ourselves, exploring new international warehouses, onboarding new shipping partners, and rebuilding supply chains from the ground up. 

If any projects that you have already supported as a pre-order (and are waiting to ship) are affected, you will receive a personal email including the details. Any new projects that are listed for sale in 2025 (starting in May) will not be impacted, as we will have re-organized our supply chain to accommodate this new reality.

Looking Ahead

Moving forward, we are exploring domestic and alternative international manufacturing options, outside of China. While this is an incredibly difficult decision to make in light of our long partnership with our current manufacturing team, we want to ensure our products are as affordable as possible.

However, some products are exclusively made in China - for instance, injection molded plastic components are completely infeasible to manufacture anywhere else. 

Our goal is to make the highest possible quality games that our customers can afford, and we are doing our best to keep this dream alive.

- Luke Chesney
Founder, CREO