The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is entering its second lawsuit against the Trump Administration. The lawsuit involves the new wave of emergency tariffs being imposed by the US President, which would pose an existential crisis to the entire tabletop industry.
The GAMA Second Anti-Tariff Lawsuit
In a report by Board Game Wire, GAMA is joining the cookware manufacturer Firedisc and timber supplier Ryan Wholesale for a new lawsuit against the Trump Administration in response to its recent sweeping emergency tariffs. These new tariffs are imposing a price increase of anywhere between 10-20% on goods coming from multiple countries around the world, including Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and others.
In many ways, this lawsuit may invoke a sense of deja vu on the part of GAMA. When the Trump Administration provoked a trade war with China, imposing tariffs on import costs, it was a devastating blow to the entire tabletop industry. One GAMA spent months of hard work trying to overturn.
Furthermore, it was a decision that came with its share of industry casualties. CMON has ceased development and has had to sell some of its IPs to keep the lights on. Greater Than Games and Boardlandia shut their doors.
The difference between the previous lawsuit and the new lawsuit is in scale. The first lawsuit pertained to Chinese imports only, which was still devastating to the industry as a whole. These new tariffs by comparison, are a lot broader and far more devastating across multiple businesses and industries.
GAMA has stated that this lawsuit is about more than just the long-term health of the tabletop industry. Much like the first string of tariffs, these are being imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows the President to impose trade tariffs without approval of Congress while in states of emergency.
Since a state of emergency hasn’t been declared, or the rationale to impose such a state is dubious at best, this would mean the President has unilaterally imposed these devastating tariffs without any Congressional approval or oversight.
This is the key argument of GAMA’s second anti-tariff lawsuit. It invokes the US Supreme Court’s Major Questions Doctrine, emphasizing that major policy changes require Congressional approval and that IEEPA does not provide such unilateral action. It is not just about economic fairness, but about restoring constitutional order.
“GAMA strongly supports this lawsuit as a critical effort to restore constitutional oversight of trade and tariffs.
“These emergency tariff orders are economically damaging and threatens tens of thousands of jobs in our industry that relies on international manufacturing and cooperation.”
This new lawsuit was officially filed on July 21 in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
