Nick Mowbray: Zuru Toys co-founder on US businesses holding off on purchases as a result of Trump's tariffs

• Zuru Toys co-founder Nick Mowbray speaks on the impacts of United States tariffs on China.
• He said businesses were “in a holding pattern” as they grappled with the uncertainty of changeable policy.
• US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on April 2.

Kiwi billionaire Nick Mowbray says “it’s hard to say we’re not worried” about US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his administration’s “chaotic” policy decisions.

“We’ll ship about $2 billion worth of goods to the US this year. So, at that run rate, that makes our tariffs worth about $3 billion at the moment.”

Speaking from Los Angeles this morning (New Zealand time), the toy mogul said it was difficult to read the mood on the ground there.

New Zealand businessman Nick Mowbray could not say he wasn't worried about the impact of tariffs. Photo / Alex Burton

The co-founder of Zuru Toys told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast it was impossible to plan around the tariffs.

He also said it would be “obviously impossible” to shift manufacturing of his products from China to the United States to skirt the 145% tariff rate.

His business, along with retailers, were “in a holding pattern”.

“It’s hard to say we’re not worried. Everything seems to change each day. We’re in a state of stopping everything at the moment because it’s impossible to plan,” said Mowbray.

“We’re all hoping it doesn’t continue for very long, but the [US] administration is definitely very chaotic.”

He believed it was possible the tariffs would ultimately be negotiated down.

Trump announced huge tariffs on different countries on April 2. In a whiplash change of tune a week later, he said all targeted countries but China would face a 10% rate for 90 days. Photo /The New York Times

The $3b worth of tariffs his company would have to pay would be passed on to consumers in significant price increases.

Mowbray said he was in the US, at his office, trying to work through the impact of the tariffs.

The US has become Zuru’s main export market, supplying the likes of Walmart, Target, Costco and Amazon.

An escalating trade war ensued after the US imposed tariffs on China, seeing Beijing put in a retaliatory 125% rate on US imports.

Trump announced huge tariffs on different countries on April 2. In a whiplash change of tune a week later, he said all targeted countries but China would face a 10% rate for 90 days.

The trade war has created fears of an economic downturn as the dollar drops and investors part with US government bonds, normally considered a safe investment, Agence France-Presse reported.

The impact on New Zealand remains uncertain. Kiwibank economists have outlined three possible scenarios for the country: Quick negotiations of tariff deals and little relative economic damage, longer dealmaking and prolonged economic insecurity, and the least likely scenario, recession.

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