LOS ANGELES – US furniture business has been facing a lot of challenges since the announcement of the President’s decision to hike tariff on $200 million US imports from China to 25% about a month ago. Most of the furniture businessmen in the US are searching for ways to deal with the furniture price hike problem. Due to the hike in tariffs, furniture store owners are left with no option but to increase the price of all the furniture items available in their stores. And this has impacted their sale and eventually the profit margin on a large scale.
Not just on China products, the US president has also imposed a tariff of 5% on Mexico items. This has further deteriorated the condition of the furniture market. And if Trump’s demands for immigration curbs are not met till October then the hike would reach 25%. Several furniture retailers, manufacturers, and vendors are looking to incorporate strategies to diminish the impact of China tariffs on their furniture business.
Some furniture businesses are raising their price in order to maintain the profit share. Others are opting for ways such as cancellation of orders, the imposition of new contract terms, finding cost sharing ways, and rerouting sources. It was feasible for furniture store owners to absorb the rising cost when the hike was 10% but with a big hike like 25%, things have become quite complicated. Online stores such as Furniture in Fashion have also got affected by the tariff hike and they are focusing on some other sources of imports such as Mexico and Vietnam.
