:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-2234726442-cbd38cdc5af445d1b73bd77e92820bba.jpg "Trump’s New Furniture Tariffs Are Lifting Some Stocks, Dragging Down Others")
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Key Takeaways
- The U.S. will impose tariffs of up to 50% on furniture, President Trump said, sending some industry players’ shares up and others down.
- Even the companies whose shares are rising have discussed the downside of tariffs on metals and other materials they use.
President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs have led to some early winners and losers among furniture stocks.
Newly announced tariffs on furniture ripped through sector stocks on Friday, lifting shares of companies with a significant domestic manufacturing footprint and dragging down high-end retailers, such as RH (RH) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM).
The U.S. will impose a 50% tariff on kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related products, beginning Oct. 1, and a 30% tariff on upholstered furniture, Trump said on Truth Social Thursday night. The import taxes are a response to the “large scale FLOODING” of these products into the U.S., which hurts domestic manufacturing, and therefore, poses a national security threat, Trump said.
The U.S. imported $44.4 billion furniture and fixtures in 2024, according to data from the Commerce Department, including $6.4 billion in upholstered household furniture and at least $8.2 billion in wood cabinets, countertops and furniture.
The White House didn’t respond to Investopedia’s questions, including whether the tariffs will apply to goods that comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, in time for publication.
What The News Means for Consumers
Most economists believe at least a portion of the cost of tariffs will be passed along to consumers. Gauging when and how import taxes show up via higher prices can be complicated. For instance, tariffs on aluminum and steel may hurt MasterBrand and MillerKnoll, but an import tax on furniture may bolster demand for their domestically sourced products.
Some furniture companies with domestic manufacturing plants saw their shares rise Friday.
Cabinetmaker MasterBrand’s (MBC) stock was recently up almost 6%. The Ohio-based business has 15 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., four in Mexico and one in Canada, its website says. Tariffs on materials it uses may have a “significant impact on cost” and weigh on already weakening demand, CFO Andrea Simon said on a conference call last month, according to a transcript.
Shares of MillerKnoll (MLKN), a furniture-maker based in Michigan, recently rose 3%. About 75% of the square footage MillerKnoll rents and owns is located in the U.S., according to its most recent annual report. The company raised prices and announced a surcharge earlier this year to help cover the cost of tariffs, executives said on recent conference calls.
The announcement weighed on shares of RH (RH) and Williams-Sonoma (WSM), which were recently off by about 3% and less than 1%, respectively. Both companies do some upholstery work in the U.S., with RH planning to have 52% of the segment made domestically by the end of the fiscal year, their CEOs said on recent conference calls.
Additional tariffs would hurt smaller players more than their companies and other big players, the CEOs said.
“I run the biggest luxury home brand in the world. Somebody call me,” RH CEO Gary Friedman said earlier this month, according to a conference call transcript from AlphaSense. “It’s not really us I worry about. I don’t want to win because 50% of our competitors, who are really good, hardworking people, get wiped out.”
