Americans could soon face higher prices for kitchen cabinets and other wood-based products, after President Donald Trump announced new measures aimed at insulating domestic industries from low-priced imports.
On Thursday, Trump announced a raft of new tariffs via Truth Social, covering patented drug imports, heavy trucks and also wood-derived goods such as furniture.
“We will be imposing a 50 percent Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products, starting October 1st, 2025,” the president wrote. “Additionally, we will be charging a 30 percent Tariff on Upholstered Furniture.”
Newsweek has contacted the Commerce Department via email outside of regular business hours for further comment.
Why It Matters
The U.S. cabinet industry is valued at around $14 billion, and representatives of domestic manufacturers have previously voiced support for tariffs to protect them from foreign importers undercutting their competitiveness.
However, as with Trump’s other trade measures, some warn that the higher import taxes will likely be passed by companies onto the consumer in the form of higher prices. Recent data indicates that this trend is already underway, and policymakers have cautioned that the price impacts of tariffs will continue to mount in the coming months.
What To Know
In March, the Commerce Department launched an investigation under Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to assess the potential national security implications of America’s reliance on imported timber and lumber—as well as their derivative products such as furniture and cabinetry. The results of this investigation have not yet been released.
On August 22, Trump announced a “tariff investigation” specifically focused on imported furniture, and said the results of this would be published within 50 days.
“Furniture coming from other Countries into the United States will be Tariffed at a Rate yet to be determined,” Trump posted to Truth Social. “This will bring the Furniture Business back to North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, and States all across the Union. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
According to Furniture Today, the U.S. imported around $25.5 billion in furniture last year—up seven percent from 2023—the majority of which came from China and Vietnam.
President Trump’s announcement comes only days after the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance—a trade association representing manufacturers, suppliers and stakeholders—sent him a letter calling for “robust” Section 232 tariffs on wood-derived products including cabinetry. The group warned that without immediate action, foreign countries would continue to “wage economic warfare on America’s domestic cabinet industry.”
In addition to the new furniture tariffs, Trump unveiled a 100 percent duty on imported patented drugs from October 1—unless the company is currently building a facility in the U. S.—and a 25 percent tariff on all imported heavy-duty trucks.
What People Are Saying
President Trump wrote on Truth Social: “The reason for [the tariffs] is the large scale ‘FLOODING’ of these products into the United States by other outside Countries. It is a very unfair practice, but we must protect, for National Security and other reasons, our Manufacturing process. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance, in a letter sent to Trump last week, wrote: “On behalf of America’s $14 billion cabinet industry, which is being decimated due to decades of unfair foreign trade practices perpetrated by foreign companies from China, Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia, we are asking you to save 250,000 American cabinet jobs. Today, imported cabinets are being sold at upward of 70 percent below the domestic price, making it impossible for our cabinet companies to fairly compete.”
What Happens Next?
Following Trump’s announcement, major furniture and houseware companies including Williams-Sonoma and Wayfair saw their share prices sink in overnight trading.
