Casey Loo is the president of the International Alliance of Furnishings Publications (IAFP), and the publisher and editor-in-chief of its Singapore member FurnitureAndFurnishing.com. In an interview with Poland’s member magazine Biznes Meble, Casey shared his thoughts on the likely impact of Trump’s tariffs on a global industry already beset by challenges …
The global furniture market is in a state of flux. The US is, without doubt, the world’s largest furniture market – and what happens there has a significant impact on the global industry.
President Trump’s current tariff strategy to penalise imports and bring manufacturing home has caused much chaos and anxiety worldwide – especially in APAC, which has long dominated as the largest furniture production region and the top supplier to the US.
However, whether President Trump’s strategy will succeed remains to be seen. There’s a huge gap between import demand and US domestic production capacity, which will require tremendous resources, conviction and time for it to work. Each presidency is limited to four years and a maximum of two terms – he has another three years to see it through, via very fluid policy decisions and many other areas of concern for his government to address. In the meantime, American consumers suffer the price increases.
For the furniture market across the rest of the world, despite the current climate of uncertain outlook for most economies, elevated trade tensions, both Fortune Business Insights and research agency CSIL have projected continued growth for the furniture trade in 2025, and it looks like it’s on track. That is comforting news for all (furniture is a necessity, after all).
The US Department of Commerce has introduced an extension of tariffs on steel and aluminum, also covering furniture – up to 50% tariffs on imported products. It’s a decision intended to protect the domestic industry, but it may also weaken the position of European manufacturers.
European concerns are justified, but, as stated, it is doubtful that the US will be able to fully replace imported furniture any time soon.
In the meantime, the extent to which European manufacturers are impacted depends on numerous factors: which country gets what percentage of tariff, eventually – which will influence where buyers source; if there are government incentives available to US manufacturers; if there are enough US companies that are keen to develop or expand their own production capacities (and be competitive); and how quickly these production plants can be up and running.
In addition to the investment required, cost concerns, manpower and time constraints, there’s also a need for the domestic supply chain to scale up to be able to support domestic production for the US furniture industry to rise again.
In the US, furniture consumption is strongly linked to the housing market, which is currently sluggish in terms of sales, with increasing inventory. So, while furniture is a necessity, changing/updating it can be put on hold if the prices are not desirable, or the US economy remains depressed (there’s presently very low growth projected for the year).
Let’s not forget that the higher cost of domestic production, and its impact on profitability, was the reason behind the exodus of US furniture production and the huge wave of outsourcing in the 1990s.
