The Rodon Group, a plastic injection molding company in Hatfield and one of the few U.S. toy manufacturers, is seeing major gains thanks to President Trump’s tariffs, write Nancy Chen, Joe Enoch, and Julia Doyle for CBS News Philadelphia.
Every year, the plant produces billions of plastic parts, including window parts, beverage caps, and K’nex toy sets, among many others.
While the tariffs have created uncertainty for many companies nationwide, they have brought a significant boost in business for Michael Araten, President and CEO of The Rodon Group.
“Our phone’s ringing off the hook, email’s up, everything, because people are in panic mode,” he said. “It reminds me very much of the pandemic, where it’s a supply shock.”
Araten has seen demand rise nearly 50 percent since the tariffs were first announced. The company avoided the disruption faced by other producers by keeping K’nex toy production in the U.S. through automation. It began investing in robotics four decades ago, when, as Araten put it, the machines “did almost nothing, but could pick stuff up.”
Continued investment in automation has allowed Rodon to compete directly with offshore manufacturers that rely on low-cost labor.
Read more about Hatfield’s The Rodon Group and how its benefitting from the Trump tariffs at CBS News Philadelphia.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on MONTCO.Today in June 2025.
