Call them draft dodgers in Donald Trump’s trade war: A flock of rubber ducks in Washington State, at odds with the U.S. President’s tariffs, has relocated across the border to British Columbia.
The ducks were on sale at the Rubber Duck Museum, which since July, 2024, had been tucked inside a gift shop in Point Roberts, the tiny, American pene-exclave south of Vancouver.
Neil and Krystal King, the husband-wife duo who owned the gift shop, launched the museum as an attraction to draw tourists back after the pandemic-related travel slump. The museum, which showcased the history of the novelty toy and sold countless variations of them, was an immediate success, drawing the attention of the offbeat tourist attraction guide Roadside America and CNN Travel.
In early 2025, Mr. Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on goods from China, where all of the shop’s ducks are manufactured. At one point, the import duty reached 145 per cent, which would have required the Kings to double the price of a two-inch plastic duck to US$4 while still taking a loss.
On top of rent and service fee increases, alongside a persistent Canadian boycott of travel to the U.S., the tariffs were the shop’s final death knell.
“It was just a whole big mess,” Mr. King said. “There was no way to plan. And as a small business that has some of the most unpredictable traffic you could ever imagine, there was no way to survive. Overnight, our business became completely unsustainable.”
While rubber ducks are often designed for North American pop-culture tastes, they are most often made in China.
Nearly 80 per cent of toys sold in the U.S. are manufactured in China, according to the Toy Association, an American trade association for the toy industry.
Instead of shutting down a business that was steadily gaining popularity, the Kings moved the museum to the Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall in Delta, B.C., just a 15-minute drive across the border. The new location opened on Dec. 1, drawing a busy holiday crowd and selling more ducks in a day than would typically be seen in a month in Point Roberts. The upshot is more foot traffic and fewer import taxes.
Some shoppers would walk by, then double back to peer at the costumed waterfowl in the shop’s windows. Some recognized the museum from Point Roberts. Items that never used to get a second look at the old location – a duck in a swimmer’s cap, a fisherman duck, or one in the likeness of late American singer Meat Loaf, called Beak Loaf – were quickly scooped up.
“I was like, oh my goodness, I’m so glad to see these guys find a home,” Mr. King said. About 3,000 ducks were sold that first week.
Until the Kings obtain their necessary work permits, they are unable to physically work in the Canadian location.
As such, the couple have hired a local team to handle day-to-day operations while they do what they are able to from across the border, such as payroll, inventory and scheduling. The rules prohibit them from talking to customers or handling any of the merchandise.
“I can’t even touch a duck on the shelf,” Mr. King said.
It will be a while longer before museum founders Neil and Krystal King can work in B.C. with their collection, like this Bonnytex duck from the 1960s.
The couple says that 90 per cent of business at the Point Roberts location was Canadian, a point that was apparent when Mr. Trump took office last January and announced sweeping tariffs on his country’s closest ally, fracturing cross-border relations.
“We immediately got flooded with e-mails from some of our repeat visitors, who were like, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m not coming down this year. I’ll see you in four years,’” Mr. King said.
“We had people come in who said, ‘I made sure that I didn’t come down at all during these four years, but I had to come down to say goodbye to you guys.’”
This Donald Duck toy follows his original, long-beaked design from the early 1930s, which Disney streamlined by the end of the decade.
But the museum is thriving at its new B.C. home. The location features about 60 artifacts, including one of the first-ever mass produced ducks, a hard-plastic Donald Duck produced by the Seiberling Latex Products Company in partnership with Disney in the 1930s.
There are also two ducks that appeared on the children’s television show Sesame Street alongside the mischievous Muppet Ernie, who is credited with popularizing the toy with his 1970 bathtub performance of the song Rubber Duckie.
Mr. King estimates there are between 5,000 and 6,000 ducks for sale, either on display or awaiting their time to shine in the back room. There is no particular order to them; the Kings like the fun of the “duck hunt.”
Should the museum continue to be a success, the Kings would like to expand further, including with interactive displays.
“Rubber ducks just bring this joy and innocence, and this childlike positivity into the world,” Mr. King said. “It’s something we needed to bring, especially during these tough times.”
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