Jul 16, 2026
President Donald Trump has made expanding U.S. manufacturing a central pillar of his economic agenda, arguing that tariffs on imported goods will encourage companies to produce more products domestically, strengthen supply chains and create American jobs.
One company that found itself caught in the middle of that strategy was board game maker WS Game Company.
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After receiving a seven-figure tariff bill on imported games, the Massachusetts-based manufacturer set out to produce a special Monopoly edition made in the United States to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.
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But what seemed like a straightforward effort to create a board game in America quickly became an expensive undertaking. Over a year later, the project was finished, and cost twice as much to make as it would have in China.
The hidden cost of making Monopoly in America
WS Game Company CEO John Silva told NPR that when producing the special edition of Monopoly, the company couldn’t rely on a single manufacturer to produce nearly every component under one roof. Instead, it had to stitch together a network of U.S. suppliers for nearly every piece of the game.
A former Hasbro factory in Massachusetts printed the Monopoly board, Pioneer Packaging manufactured the tray for the Monopoly money and Stateline Industries in Indiana produced custom metal tokens shaped like American icons, including a cowboy hat, covered wagon and apple pie.
Even after sourcing nearly every other component domestically, the company still couldn’t find a U.S. manufacturer capable of producing 10,000 dice.
“We turned over every single leaf trying to find someone who would make 10,000 dice for us in the U.S.,” Silva told NPR. “It requires special machinery. It requires investment.”
The company ultimately imported the dice. Silva’s conclusion was that China’s manufacturing ecosystem, where suppliers for numerous components are concentrated in one place, remains difficult to replicate in the United States.
All the extra time spent manufacturing the board game caused the company to miss the first half of the nation’s 250th birthday selling season.
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Board games aren’t the only challenge of American manufacturing
The Monopoly experiment reflects a broader challenge facing companies trying to shift manufacturing back to the United States.
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Earlier this year, Texas entrepreneur Ramon van Meer tested whether consumers would pay more for an American-made showerhead after Trump’s tariffs increased his import costs. Building the product domestically would have raised its price by roughly 85%.
More than 25,000 shoppers visited the company’s website during the experiment. Roughly 600 purchased the imported version, while none bought the more expensive American-made model, suggesting many consumers still prioritize price over domestic production.
Manufacturers with long-established U.S. operations have encountered similar limitations.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Idaho storage-system maker Decked sources about 95% of its materials domestically, but still relies on imported ball bearings because no U.S. supplier can match overseas pricing and availability. Medical-device maker CorVent Medical has also shifted much of its supply chain back to the U.S. but continues importing electronic components that are difficult to source domestically.
The toy industry faces an even steeper challenge. Nearly 80% of toys and games sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China, where decades of investment have created specialized factory networks that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of The Toy Association, told NPR that while reshoring may make sense for strategically important products, it is much harder to justify for toys because of their relatively low profit margins.
For Silva, the experience underscored both the promise and the practical limits of domestic manufacturing. Despite successfully producing an American-made Monopoly edition, he told NPR the rest of WS Game Company’s games will continue to be manufactured in China as the company prepares for the holiday shopping season.
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Clay Halton is an associate editor at Money.ca, covering a wide range of consumer-focused financial stories. He has over eight years of experience in digital publishing and has written and edited for outlets including PCMag and Investopedia.
