Tariff Information

Dear Customers and Industry Partners, 

In May 2025, the U.S. government imposed a 30% tariff on model trains imported from China—products that had been tariff-free until 2025.  This change significantly increases the cost of production for U.S. based model train companies.  At Broadway Limited, we want to provide you with a clear explanation of what’s happening, how it affects you, and what steps we’re taking in response.

What Tariffs Mean for Model Train Pricing and Availability:

A tariff is a tax collected by the US government from US companies when we import a product.  Trains from China now have a 30% tariff, meaning a model costing Broadway Limited $300 would have a tax of $90, making our total cost $390.  Manufacturers, importers, distributors and hobby stores can absorb some of this, but the retail price will still rise.  In June 2025, BLI adjusted the dealer pricing and retail pricing where necessary to cover the portion of the tariff that we cannot absorb.   We hope that recent negotiations between the US and Chinese governments will make further increases unnecessary. 

What Is Broadway Limited Doing About Tariffs?

Six years ago, BLI started manufacturing in Vietnam.  Products from Vietnam have a 20% tariff.  Progress has been slow, but we now import 1/2 of our product from Vietnam.  BLI would like to manufacture in the US, but the tool makers and component suppliers are not available here, and since the tariffs were implemented at such a high rate with almost no warning, we would be bankrupt before we could start production.  To prevent this, we are producing more Vietnam and increasing prices on products from China and Vietnam.  We are also starting to get quotes from US tool makers for future products.

BLI is participating in the Hobby Industry Coalition, a group of companies in the hobby industry cooperating to lobby to exclude hobby products from tariffs.  www.hobbycoalition.org.

How can you help?

Please keep buying our products!  We have done all we can to minimize the price increases, but we need our customers to continue supporting us and our dealer network.  

Broadway Limited would like our government to negotiate with China and other nations to eliminate unfair trade practices without destroying the model train industry.
Congress has the power to negotiate tariffs. Use the links below to contact your senators and representative asking them to reduce these tariffs on model trains to a reasonable level and implement them gradually to save our hobby and the jobs of American workers employed in the industry.

Contact your Senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Contact your State Representative: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
You can also send a message to the President at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact.
You can email the US Trade representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer at:  engagement@ustr.eop.gov.

Thank you for your support!