President Donald Trump has set a 50-day deadline to slap sweeping tariffs on imported furniture, vowing to bring manufacturing jobs back to America’s heartland. In a post on Truth Social over the weekend, Trump said the move—triggered by a federal investigation into timber and wood products—will target foreign-made goods and revive industries in states like North Carolina, South Carolina, and Michigan.
Politico cited an unnamed White House official who said that “Trump was referring to the Commerce Department’s Section 232 investigation under the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, launched in March, which covers timber, lumber, and wood products, including furniture,” and comes after trade officials agreed to a 15% ceiling on all lumber imports covered in the draft EU–U.S. Agreement Framework.
The directive comes amid a new push by the administration to increase tariffs on a range of imported goods, including copper, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals. But furniture—particularly timber-based products—has emerged as a central focus, with China and Vietnam, the top two sources of imported furniture, facing the steepest penalties.
According to U.S. Commerce Department data, both countries exported a combined $12 billion worth of furniture and fixtures to the United States last year. It comes as tariff hikes have already begun to affect pricing. Furniture and bedding costs, tracked by the Consumer Price Index, rose 0.4 per cent in June and 0.9 per cent in July, reversing a two-and-a-half-year trend of deflation. Office, recreation, and patio furniture saw even sharper increases, with prices climbing 1.5 per cent in May, 1.6 per cent in June, and 1.5 per cent in July.
Trump’s Tariffs Could Hit 90% of IKEA Products
In April, Wood Central reported that just 10% of IKEA products sold in the United States are manufactured domestically, making the world’s largest furniture retailer particularly vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs. Wood Central understands that Inter IKEA, the company’s U.S. division, relies heavily on overseas sourcing—far more than its European and Chinese counterparts. And whilst 70 per cent of IKEA’s European products are sourced from European forests, and 80 per cent of its Chinese inventory is manufactured locally, the U.S. division’s top five sourcing markets include Poland, Italy, Lithuania, Germany, and China. Germany is now subject to a 20 per cent tariff, while Chinese imports face a 34 per cent duty.
Industry experts warn that the structure of the tariffs could disproportionately affect high-volume, low-value goods used in furniture, cabinetry, and other structural applications. “Absorbing a 10 per cent tariff is one thing,” said a supply chain analyst familiar with the matter. “But factoring in a 20 to 40 per cent tariff without passing on increased prices to consumers is challenging.”
Trump’s strategy aimed at boosting domestic timber production and manufacturing, but it presents complications for multinational firms like IKEA, which are committed to sourcing FSC-certified timber. IKEA is the world’s third-largest timber consumer, responsible for roughly 1 per cent of global lumber demand. Yet only 14.7 million hectares of U.S. forests are certified under the FSC scheme. The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), the U.S. equivalent under the PEFC system, covers approximately 33 million hectares.
The question now facing retailers is whether there is sufficient certified forest fibre—FSC, SFI, or PEFC—to meet demand should production shift to the United States. Henrik Elm, Inter IKEA’s CFO, acknowledged the challenge last year in an interview with Reuters. “We have worked a lot on making our supply chain more responsive to different changes, including different trade barriers,” Elm said. “So I think we are better equipped than we have been ever before, but we are not immune to changes.”
- To learn more about the impact of Trump’s economic policy on the global timber market, click here for Wood Central’s special feature. To learn more about Trump’s new tariffs on Chinese imports, including millions of timber furniture pieces, click here for Wood Central’s story.
