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  • Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    President Donald Trump has announced an investigation into tariffs on foreign-made furniture, which could affect prices and manufacturing in the U.S.

    Updated: 4:31 AM PDT Aug 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.”Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma. An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.”There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.” The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam. Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers. The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers. It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.

    “Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”

    A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”

    Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma.

    An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.

    “There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.”

    The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam.

    Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers.

    The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers.

    It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

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  • Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    Trump teases tariffs on imported furniture

    President Donald Trump has announced an investigation into tariffs on foreign-made furniture, which could affect prices and manufacturing in the U.S.

    Updated: 7:31 AM EDT Aug 23, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.”Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma. An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.”There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.” The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam. Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers. The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers. It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

    WASHINGTON —

    President Donald Trump said on Friday that new tariffs on foreign-made furniture are coming later this year following an investigation.

    “Within the next 50 days, that Investigation will be completed, and Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” the president wrote on Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union.”

    A White House official clarified that the president is referencing a previously announced investigation that “will assess the national security risks arising from the United States’ increasing dependence on imported timber, lumber, and derivative products like paper, furniture, and cabinetry.”

    Nevertheless, the president’s comments on Friday sank some furniture stocks, from Wayfair to Williams-Sonoma.

    An industry coalition, called “Furniture for America,” expressed concerns about steeper tariffs earlier this year in written comments to the Commerce Department.

    “There is no rational relationship between imports of wood products or furniture and the national security of the United States,” the coalition wrote. “Second, no amount of tariffs will bring back American furniture manufacturing back to its prior levels. Tariffs will harm manufacturing still being done in the United States.”

    The White House said new tariffs on this sector would not stack on top of so-called “reciprocal” tariffs that are already targeting a wide range of countries, including major furniture suppliers like China and Vietnam.

    Federal data suggests those tariffs may be starting to show up in some furniture prices for consumers.

    The latest Consumer Price Index shows that, while overall inflation held steady between June and July 2025, furniture and bedding prices increased by 0.9 percent month-to-month. Some experts have identified this as an early warning sign, while conceding that the impact of tariffs on prices has generally been less severe than anticipated, perhaps because many businesses are absorbing added costs instead of passing them on to consumers.

    It remains to be seen how Trump’s latest batch of tariffs on most trading partners that took effect earlier this month will impact these trends.

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  • The Best Midcentury Modern Outdoor Chairs by Iconic Designers

    The Best Midcentury Modern Outdoor Chairs by Iconic Designers

    Design classics aren’t just for interiors. In fact, a crop of notable 20th-century designers made dining and lounge chairs for the outdoors (and/or their designs were later reworked for outdoor use). From the Eameses to Jens Risom to brands including Tolix and Fermob, here are our 12 favorite classic outdoor chair designs. Looking for more […]

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  • In Northern Ireland, ‘a Protestant state’ finally has a Catholic leader

    In Northern Ireland, ‘a Protestant state’ finally has a Catholic leader

    Demands and priorities

    Britain is providing the executive an extra £3.3 billion to start patching holes in services and pay long-delayed wage hikes that just triggered the biggest public sector strike in Northern Ireland’s history. The trouble is, the head of Northern Ireland’s civil service, Jayne Brady, has already told the new leaders that these eye-watering sums are still too small to pay the required bills. The U.K. expects Stormont to raise regional taxes, something local leaders have been loath to do.

    If anything can unite unionist and republican politicians, it’s their shared demand for the U.K. Treasury to keep sending more moolah — even though the British government already has committed to pay Northern Ireland over the odds into perpetuity at a new rate of £1.24 versus an equivalent £1 spent in England.

    Money demands and spending priorities should underpin short-term stability at Stormont. But a U.K. general election looms within months and DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson wants to reverse his party’s losses to Sinn Féin. That could be complicated by the fact that he’s just compromised on Brexit trade rules in a fashion that distresses and confuses many within his own divided party, leaving him vulnerable.

    To strengthen his leadership, Donaldson boosted pragmatic allies and sought to neuter less reasonable opponents in Saturday’s DUP moves at Stormont.

    The assembly’s new non-partisan speaker will be DUP lawmaker Edwin Poots, who defeated Donaldson for the party leadership in 2021 only to be tossed out almost immediately.

    That move puts Poots — who used his previous role as Stormont’s agriculture minister to block essential resources for the required post-Brexit checks at ports — into a new strait-jacket of neutrality.

    Little-Pengelly, by contrast, is one of Donaldson’s most trusted lieutenants and a Stormont insider. He put her into his own assembly seat when, shortly after the 2022 election, Donaldson dumped it in favor of staying an MP in London.

    While Stormont is never more than one crisis away from another collapse, for Saturday, peace reigned — and an Irish republican, committed to Northern Ireland’s eventual dissolution, is in charge of making the place work.





    Shawn Pogatchnik

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  • UK finance chief warns Trump: Return to protectionism a ‘profound mistake’

    UK finance chief warns Trump: Return to protectionism a ‘profound mistake’

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    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    DAVOS, Switzerland — Britain’s top finance minister Jeremy Hunt has warned Donald Trump that a return to U.S. protectionism would be a “profound mistake” if he wins the U.S. election in November.

    Speaking during a press briefing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Hunt hit out at the Republican party frontrunner’s proposal for a universal tariff on all goods imported into the U.S.

    Asked by POLITICO if he was concerned about the impact on the U.K. economy “if the U.S. elects a protectionist candidate for president like Donald Trump”, Hunt replied: “I don’t support protectionist measures. I think they harm the people who introduce them as much as the people they are aimed at.”

    Hunt argued that a “huge flourishing of global trade” has helped to lessen poverty around the world, adding: “It would be a profound mistake to move back to protectionism.”

    In an interview with Fox News in August last year, Trump floated an automatic 10 percent tariff on all goods imported to the U.S.

    During his first term as U.S. president, Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and declared that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.”

    Hunt’s comments will be seen as a direct rebuke of the U.S. Republican frontrunner, who has had a mixed relationship with senior U.K. politicians in the past.

    Trump was known to hold a low opinion of former PM Theresa May, whom he undermined during her time in Downing Street. The former president was closer to her successor Boris Johnson, however — even giving Johnson his private phone number.

    Zachary Warmbrodt and Andrew McDonald

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  • French rapier with Spanish blade

    French rapier with Spanish blade

    French rapier with Spanish blade
    Made around 1600. Steel handle, cut, drilled and engraved in the shape of a chain, blued and inlaid with gold. The blade itself is imported from Spain, Valencia, as evidenced by the inscription “VALENCIA ME FECIT” (“Made in Valencia”). In those days, Spain produced bladed weapons of the highest quality, the possession of which emphasized the status of the owner

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  • France plays bad cop as transatlantic trade tensions ramp up

    France plays bad cop as transatlantic trade tensions ramp up

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    PARIS — U.S. President Joe Biden needs to watch out; France is resuming its traditional role as Europe’s troublemaker on the transatlantic trade front.

    It had seemed like the bad blood between Brussels and Washington was easing on Biden’s watch. Facing a common foe in China, the EU and the U.S. last year struck a truce on the tariffs that former President Donald Trump slapped on European steel and aluminium. Over this year, Russia’s war against Ukraine has meant that America and Europe needed to present a united front, at least politically.

    Cracks are now starting to re-emerge, however. The EU is furious that the U.S. is pouring subsidies into the homegrown electric car industry. Accusing Washington of protectionism, Europe is now threatening to draw up its own defenses.

    Unsurprisingly, French President Emmanuel Macron is leading the charge. “The Americans are buying American and pursuing a very aggressive strategy of state aid. The Chinese are closing their market. We cannot be the only area, the most virtuous in terms of climate, which considers that there is no European preference,” Macron told French daily Les Echos.

    Upping the ante, he called on Brussels to support consumers and companies that buy electric cars produced in the EU, instead of ones from outside the bloc. 

    There are good reasons why the Europeans are fretting about their trade balances.

    The war has delivered a huge terms-of-trade shock, with spiraling energy costs hauling the EU into a yawning bloc-wide trade deficit of €65 billion in August, from only €7 billion a year earlier. In one manifestation of those strains, Europe’s growing reliance on American liquefied natural gas to substitute for lost Russian supplies has re-ignited tensions.

    Macron’s comments are a reflection of EU consternation over Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act, which incentivizes U.S. consumers to “Buy American” when purchasing a greener car. The EU argues that requiring that car needs to be assembled in North America and contain a battery with a certain percentage of local content discriminate against the EU and other trade partners.

    The European Commission hopes to convince Washington to find a diplomatic compromise for European carmakers and their suppliers. If not, that leaves the EU no choice but to challenge Washington at the World Trade Organization, EU officials and diplomats told POLITICO — even if a new transatlantic trade war is the last thing both sides want to spend their time and money on.

    Macron’s comments “are clearly a response against the Inflation Reduction Act,” noted Elvire Fabry, a trade policy expert at the Institut Jacques Delors in Paris. “Macron plays the role of the bad cop, compared to the European Commission, which left Washington some political room to make adjustments,” she noted. 

    ‘American domination’

    The Commission hopes to find a diplomatic compromise with the U.S. for European carmakers and their suppliers | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

    France has traditionally been the bloc’s most outspoken country when it came to confronting Washington on a wide range of trade files. Paris, for instance, played a key role in killing a transatlantic trade agreement between the EU and U.S. (the so-called “TTIP”). Its digital tax angered U.S. Big Tech and triggered a trade war with the Trump administration.

    More recently, during its rotating Council of the EU presidency, Paris focused on trade defense measures, which will give Brussels the power to retaliate against unilateral trade measures, including from the U.S.

    New tensions are bad news for the upcoming meeting of the Trade and Tech Council early December, which so far has had trouble to show that it’s more than a glorified talking shop. 

    France won’t be left alone in a possible trade war on electric cars. According to Fabry, these tensions will bring Paris and Berlin closer, as the German car industry is also particularly affected by the U.S. measures.

    But the “Buy American” approach is not the only bone of contention. The fact that Europe is increasingly relying on gas imports from the U.S. brought European discontent to the next level.

    Although gas import prices fell in September from their all-time highs in August, they were still more than 2.5 times higher than they were a year ago. And, taking into account increased purchase volumes, France’s bill for imports of LNG multiplied more than tenfold in August, year on year, by one estimate.

    Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire last week warned that Russia’s war against Ukraine should not result in “American economic domination and a weakening of Europe.” Le Maire criticized the U.S. for selling LNG to Europe “at four times the price at which it sells it to its own companies,” and called on Brussels to take action for a “more balanced economic relationship” between the two continents.

    That very same concern is shared by some Commission officials, POLITICO has learned, but also among French industrialists.

    It is “hardly contestable” that the U.S. had some economic benefits from the war in Ukraine and suffered less than Europe from its economic consequences, said Bernard Spitz, head of international and European affairs at France’s business lobby Medef. 

    This article is part of POLITICO Pro

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    Giorgio Leali and Barbara Moens

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