Several US toy makers intend to move their production facilities in China to other markets, including Viet Nam, due to concerns about negative effects of the US-China trade war.

Some US toy firms said that if their products were made in the US instead of China, their prices would be five times higher, making their products prohibitively expensive for many consumers. In cases where the US applies a 25 per cent tax on raw materials, toy businesses could go bankrupt or be forced to reduce the size of their workforce.

Experts said rising costs in China because of the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has led big US toy producers to seek other markets for production.

Hasbro, the world’s leading toy manufacturer, plans to reduce the number of products made in China to 60 per cent by 2020, compared with 69 per cent in 2018 and 86 per cent in 2012. It plans to move some of its production to the US, Mexico, Viet Nam and India.

According to data from market research organisation Euromonitor International, the toy manufacturing sectors in Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam all recorded double-digit growth during the 2012-17 period. — VNS