🔗 Share this article

Several fresh US tariffs targeting imported kitchen cabinets, vanities, timber, and certain furnished seating have been implemented.

As per a proclamation signed by President Donald Trump recently, a ten percent tariff on softwood lumber foreign shipments took effect this Tuesday.

Import Duty Percentages and Upcoming Changes

A 25% levy is also imposed on imported cabinet units and vanities – escalating to 50% on January 1st – while a twenty-five percent tariff on upholstered wooden furniture is set to rise to 30%, provided that no updated trade deals are reached.

Donald Trump has cited the necessity to shield American producers and security considerations for the decision, but some in the industry fear the tariffs could increase housing costs and cause customers postpone house remodeling.

Defining Tariffs

Tariffs are levies on foreign products usually charged as a portion of a good's value and are submitted to the federal administration by businesses shipping in the goods.

These companies may transfer a portion or the entirety of the additional expense on to their clients, which in this instance means typical American consumers and further domestic companies.

Past Duty Approaches

The chief executive's import tax strategies have been a key feature of his second term in the presidency.

Donald Trump has previously imposed targeted taxes on steel, metallic element, aluminium, vehicles, and car pieces.

Impact on Canada

The additional global ten percent levies on softwood lumber implies the material from the northern neighbor – the number two global supplier globally and a significant US supplier – is now dutied at above 45 percent.

There is presently a total thirty-five point sixteen percent American countervailing and anti-dumping duties placed on nearly all northern industry players as part of a years-old disagreement over the product between the neighboring nations.

Bilateral Pacts and Exemptions

As part of active trade deals with the America, duties on timber goods from the UK will not go beyond ten percent, while those from the European Union and Japan will not go above 15%.

Administration Justification

The White House says Trump's duties have been enacted "to guard against dangers" to the US's domestic security and to "enhance manufacturing".

Industry Apprehensions

But the National Association of Homebuilders stated in a release in late September that the recent duties could escalate homebuilding expenses.

"These recent levies will generate additional obstacles for an presently strained housing market by additionally increasing construction and renovation costs," stated head the group's leader.

Seller Perspective

Based on Telsey Advisory Group senior executive and market analyst the analyst, stores will have few alternatives but to hike rates on foreign products.

In comments to a news outlet last month, she stated sellers would try not to raise prices too much before the holiday season, but "they are unable to accommodate thirty percent taxes on alongside existing duties that are presently enforced".

"They will need to pass through costs, probably in the guise of a significant price increase," she added.

Retail Leader Statement

In the previous month Swedish retail major Ikea said the levies on furniture imports make operating "harder".

"The levies are impacting our operations in the same way as fellow businesses, and we are attentively observing the evolving situation," the company remarked.