[ad_1]
President Trump wants to make U.S. furniture great again with a series of tariffs that took effect Tuesday. Trump announced these tariffs partially to revitalize North Carolina’s home furnishing industry, he said on Truth Social. There is now a 10 percent tariff on softwood lumber, and a 25 percent tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and upholstered furniture. On January 1, 2026, the tariffs will increase to 50 percent on cabinets and 30 percent on upholstered furniture.
North Carolina’s High Point Market, the largest home furniture trade show in the world, brings together U.S. and global furniture designers twice a year. Many businesses in the state now focus on high-end, customizable furniture, while lower to middle-end upholstered furniture is largely produced in Mississippi.
While the long-term economic impact of the tariffs is hard to predict, the short-term effects are already being felt by manufacturers. Typically, U.S. furniture plants receive component parts from different countries. Those components are subject to the tariff duties, even if the final product is made in America.
For example, a recliner might have a powered motor, which wouldn’t be made in the U.S. Tools also cost more. Michael Rozell, a furniture designer and owner of Granville, Ohio-based Wooden Objex, says prices on essential materials are rising rapidly, sometimes by thousands of dollars.
“It’s a very scary, weird time, and people who are just bouncing around, smiling all happy are not paying attention,” says Rozell, adding that an order he placed for tools from Canada more than six weeks ago still hasn’t arrived. “It made it to the Customs depot, and Customs would not release it to the United States because the tariffs were so confusing.”
Alex Shuford, CEO of North Carolina-based manufacturer Rock House Farm, says his company’s tariff bill in 2024 was $300,000, but that this year’s will be well over $3 million. “Next year, if this continues, we’ll be pushing $6 or $7 million,” he says.
John Hart, who runs Lewisville, Texas-based design company Arteriors and imports 97 percent of the furniture he sells, has been looking to move his operations out of Southeast Asia. The region has been hit hard by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, and he says he’s looked at other regions that have more favorable trade relationships with the U.S. But navigating that switch to other countries means dealing with a new set of rules and regulations, depending on where he sources his products.
There was a furniture boom during the pandemic, as American consumers stuck at home decided to get new couches, tables, and other items, but in recent years, demand has dried up. U.S. furniture manufacturing has a common historical cycle, according to John Joe Schlichtmann, a professor of urban sociology at DePaul University, whose 2022 book “Showroom City” focuses on High Point’s deindustrialization and reinvention.
What tariffs won’t solve, Schlichtmann notes, is a lack of skilled labor. Young people in the area aren’t interested in furniture manufacturing, likely because the industry follows cheaper labor and is known for its historical volatility.
“You have community colleges in the region that are teaching furniture skills, but they’re going to have to really be injected with investment,” Schlictmann says. “It’s going to require a scalpel, and not a mallet, to make that happen.”
Trump isn’t new to High Point Market. Back in 2007, he visited the market for his Trump Homes brand, an imprint of Lexington Home Brands that manufactures 20 miles outside of High Point. But Trump Homes’ factories were not always U.S. based. In 2010, his crystal bearing line was made in Slovenia. After Lexington chose to discontinue its partnership with Trump in 2011, he teamed up with Dorya, a Turkish luxury furniture company, whose production process was based in Izmir, Turkey.
Though these tariffs might intend to encourage American furniture manufacturing, Rozell says buyers at High Point Market were hesitant when he was there in April, asking for 20 percent discounts on his wholesale prices. He says if the administration wanted to help, they would invest the tariff revenue back into the industry, to bring back infrastructure and labor.
“Most people would love to have their products say ‘made in America,’” Rozell said. “Everyone loves this country. It’s the greatest place on earth, but the reality is, it’s so expensive here.”
[ad_2]
Ben Butler
Source link