Europe’s top furniture manufacturers have turned up the pressure on Brussels, warning that steep U.S. import duties set to take effect on October 1 could breach an existing EU-U.S. tariff pact and upend thousands of jobs across the continent.
In an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the influential Association of the German Furniture Industry (Verband der Deutschen Möbelindustrie) is now urging the EU to enforce a 2018 agreement capping duties on European furniture at 15 per cent, a move it said would help prevent Washington from imposing much higher levies.
The letter comes after President Trump announced on Truth Social that “we will be imposing a 50 per cent tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products, starting October 1st, 2025,” as well as “a 30 per cent tariff on Upholstered Furniture.” Those levies stem from a Commerce Department Section 232 investigation into national-security risks posed by timber and wood imports—measures, Trump wrote, are necessary to “bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan and States all across the Union.”
German exporters, however, argue the duties far exceed the 15 per cent ceiling enshrined in the 2018 political declaration between Brussels and Washington, and warn they could spark retaliatory measures on both sides of the Atlantic. Industry data show that between January and July 2025, shipments of German kitchen furniture to the U.S. plunged 17.4 per cent to €26 million, reversing a 13 per cent gain in the same period a year earlier, while exports of upholstered furniture inched up just 2.5 per cent to €12 million.
An August survey of association members found that 80 per cent of German kitchen-furniture producers expect further export losses if the U.S. follows through with its announced tariffs. Many firms are already grappling with surging raw-material and energy costs that have eroded profit margins and led to slowdowns.
“We urge the Commission to enforce the EU-U.S. tariff agreement without delay,” Managing Director Jan Kurth wrote in the letter. “Failing to uphold this commitment would send the wrong signal to our industry and undermine years of constructive trade cooperation,” Kurth said, adding that the association is also calling on Brussels to explore dispute-settlement proceedings at the World Trade Organisation should Washington refuse to honour the tariff cap.
- To learn more about the S232 probe into lumber imports, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from April 2025.
