Copyright bbc
Jean Lin, the founder of a design gallery for furniture and home decor, said she is less exposed to tariffs than some other businesses in her industry. Most of the furniture she sells, in partnership with independent designers, is made in the US. But her Manhattan-based cooperative, called Colony, has still been feeling a pinch from tariffs since this spring. Homeowners and interior designers have scaled back purchases and projects because of tariff-related uncertainty, which has taken a toll on her sales. "It's really hard to invest in anything when there's unknowns, especially works of great value or works that are going to go in your home for a long time," Ms Lin said. Material costs had also been rising, even before the latest round of tariffs. Ms Lin said one US-based mill worker, with whom she is collaborating for an interior design project, imports his materials - and those keep getting more expensive. That could mean higher prices for consumers down the line. "The next project he does, whether it's ours or somebody else's, he's going to quote accordingly," she said. "If the construction fees are going up, if the material costs are going up, your architect and your interior designer fees are going to go up as well." At Stillfried Design in lower Manhattan, prices for furniture made in Germany and Austria rose by nearly 15% this summer to account for broad-based tariffs on European imports and tariffs on steel. Michael Trubrig, who co-owns the business with his wife, said: "We had to raise prices because we couldn't lower the margin". He does not expect the new furniture tariffs to affect him, because of a trade agreement capping tariffs on the European Union at 15%. But the broader tariff landscape continues to present a hurdle. "It's not business-ending, but it's not healthy, either," Mr Trubrig said.
