IKEA has started reversing years of price cuts in the United States as new US tariffs, which came into effect last week, push up import costs, forcing the world’s largest furniture retailer to pass on at least some of the burden to its shoppers. It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported late last week that the Uppland sofa now costs US $899, up from US $849, whilst a three-piece oak bedroom set has climbed to US $1,049 from US $959, as rising duties hit imported wood and finished furniture.
“Our ambition is to continue lowering prices. But of course, in the world we live in, sometimes…that becomes very difficult or even impossible at some point,” said Tolga Öncü, retail manager at Ingka, which operates the vast majority of IKEA stores globally, acknowledging, for the first time, that the retail giant can no longer absorb all tariff-driven cost increases.
The price moves come after the Trump administration imposed a 10% tariff on imported lumber and stepped-up levies on cabinets, vanities, and upholstered wooden furniture from Wednesday. These measures, the White House says, are intended to revive US mill capacity and protect supply chains tied to national security. As a result, retailers who have absorbed costs to keep shelves cheap are now recalculating as duties bite deeper into margins.
IKEA is especially exposed, given that about 15% of what it sells in the US markets is sourced from US forests. The company already sources kitchen cabinets domestically, shielding that category from a recent 25% duty, and it is exploring more USUS suppliers for items such as mattresses. Still, executives warn that scaling local production to match current volumes will take time and investment.
Analysts say the tariffs will force a reckoning across the sector: retailers must choose between trimming margins, reshoring production, or raising prices. Some competitors, including big-box chains, have begun lifting prices in affected categories, and furniture inflation is already outpacing headline consumer-price gains. Industry leaders counter that limited certified forest fibre and constrained mill capacity mean any meaningful shift toward USUS supply will be gradual, keeping pressure on global retailers and consumers in the near term.
For IKEA, the question is whether it can enlarge US sourcing enough to protect its long-standing low-price promise without undermining the efficiencies of its European and Asian manufacturing base. The answer will shape whether the recent price rises are a temporary shock or the start of a new, higher-price era for the company’s customers.
- 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.
