US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap new tariffs on imported furniture, saying his administration will carry out a sector-wide investigation in the coming weeks.
“We are doing a major Tariff Investigation on Furniture coming into the United States,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that the inquiry would be completed “within the next 50 days.”
The tariff rate has not yet been decided, but Trump argued that the move was aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing in states such as North Carolina, South Carolina and Michigan — once strongholds of the industry.
The United States employed about 340,000 people in furniture and related manufacturing as of July, roughly half the workforce seen in 2000, according to offical data.
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China and Vietnam are among the leading exporters supplying American households. According to foreign media reports, the US imported an estimated $25.5 billion worth of furniture in 2024 alone.
The push adds to Trump’s string of tariff threats this year, after duties were raised on steel, aluminum, autos and several other products. His administration has also opened national-security-linked probes into pharmaceuticals, chips and critical minerals.
Unlike broad countrywide tariffs– some of which are tangled in legal battles– sector-specific duties are generally considered to rest on firmer legal ground.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly leaned on tariffs to pressure trading partners.
