AsianFin -- U.S. President Trump on Monday announced his new tariffs hitting the furniture industry.
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U.S. imports of softwood timber and lumber shall be subject to a 10% tariff rate, and imports of certain upholstered wooden products will face a 25% tariff, according to a proclamation signed by Trump and released by the White House on Monday. The tariffs are set to take effect on October 14, per the order. Some rates would increase January 1 under the order, with certain upholstered wood products subject to a higher 30% levy and kitchen cabinets and vanities then being hit with a 50% import tax.
The decision to levy these tariffs is based on an investigation launched by the U.S. Commerce Department into effects of imports of timber, lumber, and their derivative products on the national security of the United States under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, Trump said in the proclamation.
The Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in the investigation found that present quantities and circumstances of wood product imports are weakening U.S. economy, resulting in the persistent threats of closures of wood mills and disruptions of wood product supply chains, among other things, and diminishing the utilization of production capacity of the domestic wood industry, Trump said.
“Because of the state of the United States wood industry, the United States may be unable to meet demands for wood products that are crucial to the national defense and critical infrastructure,” Trump said in proclamation. Based on the facts considered in that investigation, found and advised Trump of his opinion that wood products are being imported into the U.S. in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security, according to Trump.
Trump said his tariff actions in the proclamation will strengthen supply chains, bolster industrial resilience, create high-quality jobs, and increase domestic capacity utilization for wood products such that the U.S. can fully satisfy domestic consumption while also creating economic benefits through increased exports.
In a social media post earlier Monday, Trump threatened he will be imposing “substantial” tariffs on “on any Country that does not make its furniture in the United States.” The president said such move aims to make North Carolina, a state that “has completely lost its furniture business” to other countries including China great again.
Trump last Thursday previewed a new wave of sectoral tariffs up to 100% coming next month. In a slew of posts on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump announced he will impose a 100% tariff on all branded or patented pharmaceutical products, a 50% Tariff on all Kitchen Cabinets, Bathroom Vanities, and associated products, a 30% Tariff on Upholstered Furniture, and a 25% tariff on all heavy trucks. All of these levies will come into effect on October 1.
Trump said the new tariffs on kitchen and bathroom cabinets, along with certain furniture, resulted from other countries’ large scale of “flooding” into the United States, which he described as “very unfair” practice. The tariffs aim to protect the U.S. manufacturing for national security, among other reasons.
The heavy truck levies are also part of efforts to save domestic manufacturers. They will protect U.S. companies, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, from “the onslaught of outside interruptions”, Trump said, citing reasons, including “above all else”, national security.
As to the drug tariffs, Trump said companies “building” their pharmaceutical manufacturing plants in America would be exempted from such levies. He clarified that the “building” means the plant is “breaking ground” and/or “under construction”. “There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these Pharmaceutical Products if construction has started,” the president wrote in his post.
