The Trump administration said on Wednesday it is postponing tariff increases on imported upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities by a year, citing ongoing negotiations with trading partners.Without the delay, the U.S. was set to double its tariff rate on kitchen cabinets and vanities produced outside the U.S. to 50% starting Jan. 1. The import duty on upholstered furniture — including sofas and armchairs — was set to rise to 30% from 25% on the first day of 2026.The postponement follows a November rollback by the Trump administration of tariffs on imported foods such as beef, coffee and bananas, as affordability concerns have weighed on consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy. Furniture prices have been outpacing inflation, with living room, kitchen and dining room furniture rising 4.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 2.7% annual increase in the overall Consumer Price Index.According to the Dec. 31 White House announcement, the tariff rate on upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities will remain at 25%. “The United States continues to engage in productive negotiations with trade partners to address trade reciprocity and national security concerns with respect to imports of wood products,” the White House said in its statement. “The United States will therefore delay the increase in tariff rates for upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities that was set to take place on January 1, 2026, under the September 29, 2025, Proclamation for an additional year,” it added.When President Trump announced the furniture tariffs in September, he wrote on social media that his goal was to help revive U.S. furniture manufacturing in North Carolina. Between 1999 to 2009, North Carolina’s furniture industry lost half of its jobs due to increased competition from Asia, according to a 2020 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
